GTA Online – will it live beyond GTA 6? (pic: Rockstar Games)
A reader makes some predictions about the release of GTA 6 and bases them on the success of Red Dead Redemption 2, not GTA 5.
There’s been a lot of GTA 6 rumours this week but none of them have really said anything that new or surprising and I’d say we still know nothing important about the game other than the setting and that there are two main characters: a man and a woman. There’s not much point speculating about the gameplay beyond that because Rockstar has got so much money, and time, they could do pretty much whatever they want.
However, I do believe there is one thing that makes things a little more predictable: Red Dead Redemption 2. It’ll never be as big as Grand Theft Auto but I do think people underestimate how massive it is, bigger than almost anything else that isn’t a Nintendo game, including any individual FIFA or Call Of Duty game. It did much better than expected and has proven to Rockstar that they can make a major success out of less obviously popular material, if they follow certain rules.
I don’t believe Rockstar are in it just for the money, I think they do want to push the envelope and while I’m sure there are people at Take-Two who just want to do GTA 5 with better graphics I believe Rockstar will try to do more, and I think they’ll use Red Dead Redemption 2 as proof that they can get it to work.
GTA 5 has been going on for so long now that I think many people have forgotten it even has a story mode. It’s Red Dead Redemption 2 that’s known for its plot and characters and while I’d say it does it a lot better than GTA 5, it’s the same basic formula underneath. I think Rockstar are going to want to earn back the reputation GTA once had and make a point of showing that they can tell a great story set in the modern day.
It’s easy to forget but Red Dead Redemption 2 did not launch with Red Dead Online, it had a beta but the official launch didn’t official come until over six months later. I think that’s mainly because they wanted the main game out for Christmas, but I also believe they wanted the story to take centre stage, since they didn’t want everyone just skipping to the online and never ending up playing the single-player.
GTA 6 will be the same, I think, and Rockstar will use the evidence of Red Dead Redemption 2 to convince their bosses that it will work, plus the fact that GTA Online is still running and there’s actually no need to start anything new. I don’t know if they’ll eventually run a GTA Online 1 and 2 in parallel but I suspect they will at first before shutting the first one down. I don’t really know how long that will take but I would guess a year or two at least.
As for the 2024 prediction, that’s a bit simpler. Rockstar announced the game last year when they really didn’t have to. They didn’t show anything, Take-Two didn’t need the publicity, and there’s no reason to think they announced it for any reason other than it’s getting relatively close to being finished. After all, they did say they were making good progress.
I don’t think there’s anything to suggest it’ll be out this year, because we would’ve heard something by now, but I predict it’ll be out next year. Unless there’s some massive internal delay it really doesn’t make sense to announce a game everyone already knows exists in 2022, not say anything about it, and then not release it until 2025.
So there you go, that’s my predictions. With a bit of luck it won’t be too long until we find out if they’re right or not. Especially as a 2024 release could mean a 2023 reveal. Here’s hoping…
By reader Redrum
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A reader makes some predictions about the release of GTA 6 and bases them on the success of Red Dead Redemption 2, not GTA 5.