Rockstar has finally spoken on GTA 6, showing its intention to provide gamers with a near-perfect game. This explains such a long development time.
[Mis à jour le 20 septembre 2022 à 18h01] If there is a soap opera in the video game industry, it is Grand Theft Auto 6. The sequel to the famous GTA 5 released in 2013, has been awaited by fans for about ten years, and counts s be part of the dizzying success of its elder, the one which totaled more than 155 million in sales, spanned three generations of consoles, and which quickly became the pioneer of service games thanks to its multiplayer game mode. More than ten years later, and after a dizzying hack (see below), Rockstar has finally expressed its intentions regarding this major release. It was through its CEO Strauss Zelnick that the studio showed its enthusiasm for this titanic project.
Strauss Zelnick speaks
It’s in an interview for the modest Youtube channel Aarthi and Sriram that the CEO of Take-Two Interactive expressed Rockstar’s ambition for GTA 6. The American did not hide his excitement for the sequel to GTA 5, calling the scale of the project completely unprecedented: “Thehe new GTAs must be something you have never seen, and it is a very big challenge for the team “. The game will once again be a pioneer of its time, which explains its extremely long development time according to the CEO. For him, Rockstar teams must stick to obtaining total perfection with each new release. And it is this rigor that has made the studio’s recent releases (excluding remakes) the legendary games they have become.
Regarding the recent rumors around the game, it seems that Rockstar is preparing a new water physics system, allowing players to surf in-game. But of course these are only unconfirmed rumors to be taken with tweezers. As for a possible announcement or a trailer of the game, no date is planned soon, while analysts expect a release at least in 2025.
The star studio of Take-Two was able to see gameplay sequences of its next game in development, GTA 6, leaked on social networks by an anonymous person at the end of 2022. Publications that set the web ablaze, arousing the interest of many fans eager to learn more about the one we have been waiting for for almost ten years. We can see some chase images, movement animations, and some environments of a “build” of the game which would date from 2019 according to several sources. The “hacker” meanwhile claimed to have also seized the source code of GTA 6 and GTA 5, wishing to deliver the second to the highest bidder. (source Tom Henderson).
This is currently one if not the biggest leak ever observed in the video game industry. The reactions were numerous on Twitter, with some people going so far as to congratulate the hacker for bringing Rockstar Games out of silence about GTA 6. For other personalities more aware of the real stakes of such an action, it is rather the concern that dominates, especially when said hacker mentions having acquired assets and source codes of GTA 5 and 6. If this situation were true, security problems for Rockstar could delay the development of the next Grand Theft Auto.
These game sequences, which numbered in the dozens, were quickly deleted by Rockstar Games and Take-Two. For those who weren’t lucky enough to be able to see the footage, it included car chase, stealth, and displacement footage, showing various new in-game animations. individual behind this attack wants to contact Rockstar directly. He confirmed this Sunday to have proof of the veracity of the images shown, and called on Rockstar’s IT department to “verify his passage”, could we read on GTA Forums before deleting his post
“Ok, so this unexpectedly went viral, I woke up to 3,000 private messages on Telegram. If you are an employee of Rockstar or Take-Two and trying to contact me, send me a message containing 22559219889638875756 on Telegram or you can email me at [email protected] from the address your company email. I’ll try to read all of those responses soon — I’m looking to broker a deal.”
This internet user who called himself “teapotuberhacker” has since completely disappeared from social media, as have Grand Theft Auto 6 gameplay videos. The individual seems to actually own the source codes for GTA 5 and 6, and as mentioned high, reportedly called on Rockstar Games to negotiate by linking different contact addresses. A negotiation in the form of a ransom which obviously attracted the attention of the services of Rockstar and Take-Two. His aplomb could well have cost him his anonymity, given the total absence of news from him for a little over 24 hours.
It is also on this subject that Rockstar spoke on Monday afternoon, confirming the veracity of the images shown, and affirming that the consequences for the development of GTA 6 would be minimal. It reads: “We recently suffered from an intrusion on our network during which a third party had access and could download confidential information on our system, in particular of the sequences of development of the next Grand Theft Auto. At this time, we do not anticipate any impact of this flaw on our online gaming services or long-term game development. We are very disappointed that we could not otherwise share these images of the next GTA with you. Our work on this next Grand Theft Auto continues on schedule and we remain more than ever invested in providing you with an experience that exceeds all your expectations. We will keep you informed of the situation and present this next title to you as it should be when the time comes. We would like to thank you for your support throughout this situation. – The Rockstar team.“
So should we expect any GTA 6 news soon? Nothing is less sure. This year, the game had already been in the spotlight following an article by Jason Schreier for Bloomberg who had revealed some of its key elements. There is talk in particular of a plot that would take place in Vice City (namely Miami), and of a female protagonist, the first in the history of the franchise. Claims that seem to have been confirmed by the images stolen this weekend, showing both a female and male character in various gameplay sequences, and settings that could well be reminiscent of Vice City.
As for game development, Rockstar seems to be on the right track. Several insider reports have reported good progress on this side in the US studio’s offices, although no release date or even window has been revealed. For now, it looks like the game is slated for 2024-2025, a period that would likely make it a strictly next-gen game. It remains to be seen whether the huge leak that took place in this return to 2022 will not impact the development of the game more in depth than Rockstar wishes to admit.
Since the company has long been singled out for its “crunch” practices (i.e. the development period preceding the release of a game where the studio asks its employees to work hours that can exceed 70 hours per week), Rockstar seems having done his mea culpa, and some reports praise his recent work vibe. Some employees reportedly even claimed that they felt like they had moved from a university fraternity house to a real development studio. A deep restructuring that could have impacted the development of GTA 6.
Grand Theft Auto’s single-player story is always about wacky characters caught up in impossible scenarios with a cartoonish touch of American Dream. It’s also men, lots of men, nice and less nice, Franklin, Trevor, Carl, Michael… All the protagonists of the series have always been male. It is now history with GTA 6, since Jason Schreier told us that the next main character of the game would be a woman, of Latin origin and from a couple inspired by Bonny and Clyde.
If GTA 5 had allowed us to discover the streets of Los Santos, a city freely inspired by Los Angeles, GTA 6 intends to take us back to your most immemorial times. Indeed, the next release of the Rockstar Games franchise will be held in Vice City, or more clearly Miami. The city of the eponymous game will be the playground of our protagonists in this sixth installment of the series, and Rockstar marks a small throwback that will undoubtedly appeal to nostalgics. For now, we know that Miami will be the most important city in GTA 6, and that other cities will be added as the game progresses. An organization that reminds us of our best friends game-service, with a rollout of watered-down content over the game’s lifespan. As of now, Rockstar hasn’t confirmed plans to make GTA 6 a game-service type game.
Although its release date is relatively distant, it would not be illogical to expect GTA 6 to be released only on next-gen consoles. It is very likely that by 2024, these consoles will be ubiquitous in the market, and therefore that this will be the largest audience possible. It should also be remembered that the technical characteristics of the Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series X | S seem much more suitable for a title as ambitious as the next Grand Theft Auto. As for a release on PC, it is very likely although it could take place one or more years after the release on consoles, if we rely on the model of GTA V.
Given the news on the game, namely the recent confirmation of the good development of Grand Theft Auto 6, and the disclosure of gameplay images of the game, specialists in the field are counting on a release of the game between 2024 and 2025. Rockstar does not has for the moment obviously confirmed nothing, leaving only the doubt as to future revelations which could be profiled in order to “properly present” GTA 6 to the public. However, we can already count on the fact that the game will only be released on next-gen consoles and PC.