We've exhausted the English lexicon describing just how ambitious Rockstar Games' plans for Grand Theft Auto VI are. But, it appears that Take-Two Interactive has one-upped us along with everyone else.
According to Take-Two Interactive CEO, Strauss Zelnick, who was discussing the company's most recent quarterly results, the next Grand Theft Auto game will "set creative benchmarks for the series, our industry, and for all entertainment." Zelnick also added that work on GTA VI is "well underway." This all but confirms that the deluge of job listings by Rockstar Games we spotted was for the upcoming game.
Rockstar first confirmed GTA 6 in February after years of silence. Technically, we don't know if GTA VI is the official name. However, we do know that it will be a sequel to Grand Theft Auto V.
Take-Two also mentioned the perpetually ported iteration of the award-winning franchise. To date, Rockstar has ported Grand Theft Auto V to pretty much every modern console. In fact, Rockstar re-released GTA V for the PS5 and Xbox Series S/X earlier this year along with a standalone version of GTA Online, which miraculously survived a disastrous launch period.
Moving on, Take-Two remains tight-lipped about GTA VI. Except for its tall claims, Take-Two is careful not to drop crucial information about the next GTA game. If you look into Take-Two's release pipeline through FY2025, you won't find anything related to GTA VI. If you get creative, you could argue that GTA VI is a part of the 24 "Immersive Core" titles scheduled to come out before or on March 31, 2025. However, this is more of a far-fetched guess than an educated one.
Despite all the uncertainty, one thing is clear: Rockstar is all hands on deck for Grand Theft Auto 6.
The developers have officially dropped substantial Red Dead Online support to work on GTA VI. A corroborating report by Bloomberg also claims that Rockstar spent time addressing its toxic workplace culture, which is why it had to "pause" development on GTA VI after starting in 2014.
If you dig deeper into the speculation well, you'll find info suggesting that GTA 6 will feature a new Latina woman as one of its protagonists and that Rockstar wants RAGE 9, the in-game engine, to rival Unreal Engine 5.
Speaking of Take-Two, the publisher just delayed Marvel's Midnight Suns from October to anytime between then until March 31, 2023. Firaxis confirmed in a statement on its social media channels that it will take this time to "deliver the best possible experience." Marvel's Midnight Suns is the highlight of Take-Two's release slate for this fiscal year alongside WWE 2K23 and PGA Tour 2K23.
