6 things GTA 6 needs

Sam Comrie
A concept image of GTA 6

Rockstar Games have finally confirmed that GTA 6 is in production, nearly 10 years after its predecessor’s debut. Every release from the iconic developers brings an expectation of blockbuster quality, and GTA 6 is no exception. Here are six things we’d like to see from GTA 6. 

GTA 5 was released on September 13, 2013, and become one of the most successful games of all time. Sitting underneath Minecraft as the second best-selling game of all time, GTA 5 has enjoyed continued success over the last decade thanks to its ever-popular multiplayer component, GTA Online.

With the power of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles at their disposal, Rockstar Games have the opportunity to turn GTA 6 into another blockbuster experience. Here are a few things we’d love to see from the next installment.

GTA 5 Remastered
GTA 5 is set to receive a wealth of upgrades, with the release of the Expanded and Enhanced edition.

Refined combat

When Rockstar Games finally releases GTA 6, hopefully, it will have outstanding, immersive combat. The gunplay within GTA 5 currently leaves a lot to be desired, lacking the punchy heft seen in some of Rockstar’s other projects.

GTA 5 was built using Rockstar’s own in-house engine, RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine). The highly proficient engine has been used in the GTA franchise since GTA 4. With the release of Max Payne 3, the engine saw immense improvements, providing players with extremely satisfying gunplay that felt tactile and weighted.

GTA 6 has the chance to reintroduce this level of action, and then some.

Dedicated mod support

The modding community has always played a prevalent part in the growth of GTA 5 on PC. Modders have increased the game’s fidelity with inventive shader tweaks, and much more. However, their efforts were ultimately clamped down by Rockstar themselves in the build-up to the original trilogy’s Definitive Edition release.

This kind of creativity shouldn’t be squandered and Rockstar Games could cultivate an incredible community based on modding, in a similar fashion to Bethesda. The release of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Anniversary edition saw the inclusion of an official modding feature, with players able to implement hundreds of player-made alterations into their game. GTA 6 could follow suit and make it the most personable installment yet.

Deeper GTA Online customization

While GTA Online allows players to customize their character’s aesthetic, the level of detail applied to interiors, like apartments, isn’t as interchangeable. The GTA franchise added a fresh layer of immersion with the pseudo-RPG element of GTA: San Andreas, allowing Rockstar to expand on these ideas in subsequent sequels.

GTA 6 could expand on GTA Online’s level of customization by letting players truly dig into how their apartments, bases, and nightclubs look outside of readily made presets. This is a great chance to grant the player more reason to invest time into GTA 6’s multiplayer. However, we are aware that Rockstar could see this as a chance to push in-game currency.

Leave America for somewhere new

We’ve seen enough of America within the GTA games. It’s time for somewhere fresh, somewhere new. Perhaps the franchise could take a page out of Just Cause’s book and relocate GTA 6 to a tropical vista. The sunny shores of Vice City are one thing, but an entire sun-soaked paradise is another thing entirely.

Rockstar Games have played with this idea through GTA Online in the Cayo Perico update – perhaps this is a sign of things to come.

A better map than GTA 5

Aside from the actual location of GTA 6, the map itself needs to be more interesting than the reimagined version of San Andreas. GTA 5’s version of San Andreas lacked the diverse nature of its original 2004 design, with much of the map filled with forests and baron desert space. It felt far too empty for a franchise that prides itself on immersion. It works for the Old West of Red Dead Redemption, but not the bustling atmosphere of crime in GTA.

GTA 6 needs to introduce a map with densely populated areas, from buildings to pedestrians, which we need to be invested in our new locale.

GTA trilogy graphics
GTA: Vice City is part of the Definitive Edition remasters, released in November 2021.

Introduce a female protagonist

Lastly, the introduction of a female protagonist is heavily overdue for GTA. We’ve experienced the life of mafia members, bank robbers, and morally grey men time and time again. GTA 6 should introduce a fresh perspective on the common thematic beats of the franchise.

The series has overdone satire on the ‘American Dream’ to death at this point, so a new character with a unique backstory could do wonders for GTA 6.


It’ll be quite some before GTA 6 launches on consoles and PC respectively, but until then, make sure to stay updated with all GTA developments.

About The Author

Sam Comrie is a former Dexerto journalist based in South Yorkshire, UK. He has an MA in Multimedia Journalism and joined Dexerto in 2021 after producing content for NME and Red Bull Gaming.