It’s been 13 long years since that last Grand Theft Auto game, and a lot has changed. Since GTA V launched in 2013 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, there’ve been two full console generations (hell, four presidencies and 30 MCU movies too), but the gaming landscape itself has shifted. While open-world games like GTA were rarer back then, most blockbuster games today have some form of large-scale exploration, and the rise of live-service titles like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone have made big-event games less of a focus as players are sucked into yearslong obsessions and the slow IV drip of seasonal updates.
But GTA never really went away. Although most fans might’ve finished the game’s single-player mode well over a decade ago, GTA Online has thrived, continuing to draw in over 20 million active users monthly. Where many franchises might’ve lost their luster or hype after such an extended wait, the perpetual cultural prominence of the series has ensured that anticipation for Grand Theft Auto VI is at an all-time high.
But what will the game ultimately look like? Despite leaks and a controlled trickle of information from the developers at Rockstar Games, very little is known about how GTA VI will move the series forward or change its tried-and-true formula.
