What you need to know
- Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games are “determined to once again set creative benchmarks for the series, our industry, and for all entertainment” with GTA 6.
- The latest comments from Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick state development is “well underway” on the next Grand Theft Auto game.
- The next GTA title is expected to feature two protagonists, including a Latina woman, in a tale inspired by Bonnie and Clyde.
The next Grand Theft Auto title will “set creative benchmarks for the series, our industry, and for all entertainment,” Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has stated. The bold claims reflect the publisher’s ambitions for the forthcoming entry, with development “well underway,” according to remarks from its first-quarter earnings on Monday.
Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games first announced development on the title in February, though it failed to share further details about the project. Often dubbed GTA 6, with no official name or release date announced, the title will follow Grand Theft Auto V, first released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2013. The publisher has since shipped a PC version and multiple updated console versions, later named the best-selling game of the decade by The NPD Group. The game has racked up “nearly 170 million units” per recent financials, suggesting almost 10 million copies sold in the past six months.
“Sales of Grand Theft Auto V also remained strong, and to date, the title has sold-in nearly 170 million units,” said Zelnick. “With development of the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series well underway, the Rockstar Games team is determined to once again set creative benchmarks for the series, our industry, and for all entertainment, just as the label has done with every one of their frontline releases.”
Take-Two Interactive remains vague with comments surrounding GTA 6, with more news on the title and availability still some time out. Some analysts have suggested GTA 6 could drop during the publisher’s 2024 fiscal year, suggesting a release sometime in late 2023 or early 2024. Rockstar Games has also reportedly sought to improve its workplace culture as work on GTA 6 continues, according to a Bloomberg report.
GTA 6 is expected to break away from the characters and locales of past mainline Grand Theft Auto titles, this time featuring two protagonists. The duo reportedly features a new Latina woman, drawing inspiration from Bonnie and Clyde. We also expect the title to retain its focus on gunplay and driving, interlaced with a dose of social satire.
In the meantime, Grand Theft Auto V and its accompanying Grand Theft Auto Online multiplayer remain top-played games in 2022, with its most recent re-release tapping into the latest Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 consoles.
