6 years on from GTA V, why hasn’t Rockstar announced GTA 6?

Paul Cotton

It feels like we have been waiting for the inevitable release of GTA 6 forever. It begs the question of why is the next Grand Theft Auto game taking so long to be announced, let alone released.

Why is GTA 6 taking so long is a question everyone wants the answer to. At the moment, we can only speculate, but there are a few reasons that could explain the wait.

Waiting for next gen consoles

The hype for GTA 6 is like nothing any game has had before. In fact the expectations are so high that if it were to release on current systems, the PS4 and Xbox One, their hardware may not be able to deliver what fans are wanting.

The next gen consoles will open up new possibilities for the Rockstar’s GTA…

It’s a possibility that Rockstar have a working game somewhat finished behind closed doors but are waiting for the release of the PS5 and Xbox Project Scarlett.

By waiting, they will be able to add the huge world that has supposedly been leaked and run the game (hopefully) in 4K resolution at 60 frames per second – something which GTA 5 couldn’t do on current consoles.

GTA 5 still a huge success

The level of success GTA 5 has achieved is unprecedented. The number of copies it has sold and users that continue to play it, even long after its release in 2013, is frankly incredible.

Following the Diamond Casino & Resort update, GTA 5 got another boost in players. The boost was so big that it actually put the game back to the numbers it had when the GTA V first released – something it hasn’t been able to do in between.

Even by its own high standards, GTA 5 has had a remarkable comeback in recent months…

It’s a possibility that Rockstar Games have noted the continual success of GTA 5 and how well updates have performed, and have decided to prolong GTA 6 to ‘milk’ GTA 5 longer.

After all, if the current game is still generating a lot of revenue it reduces the incentive to rush Grand Theft Auto 6.

Still in development

Maybe the next generation console and GTA 5 theories are a case of trying to find something that isn’t there. The long wait for GTA 6 could be a case of it really is still being developed.

This would make sense – Rockstar probably haven’t had access to next gen console dev kits for a long period and the sheer scale of the game means it could have taken this many years to develop. Rockstar’s other games Red Dead Redemption 2 and the rumored Bully 2 will have taken a lot of their resource in between.

The wait isn’t the end of the world either because if it results in a game that surpasses Grand Theft Auto 5 then it will have been worth the wait and then some.

Sign up to Dexerto for free and receive:
Fewer Ads|Dark Mode|Deals in Gaming, TV and Movies, and Tech