Rockstar Games finally released the first trailer for the hugely-anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6. My first reaction is: oh my god, it’s not coming out until 2025? We’re not even done with 2023 yet! Talk about a super long gestation period. Grand Theft Auto 5 - the previous entry in the franchise - came out way back in 2013! What will be 12 years in between releases is a bloody long time for such a storied and popular series.
It’s all about incentives, isn’t it? Grand Theft Auto 5 was and still is a money printing machine. Therefore there’s no real financially-incentivized rush to make GTA 6. I myself have contributed at least $170 towards the Rockstar Games coffer vis a vis GTA 5. I’ve bought a copy for each generation of the Sony PlayStation console the game was released for: PS3, PS4, and PS5. All because I wanted the fidelity improvements in each subsequently new PlayStation. Worth it? Heck yes. GTA 5 on a giant LG OLED 4K television is an absolute experience.
I am somewhat disappointed that the GTA 6 is returning to Vice City, the fictionalized version of real-life Miami, Florida. The franchise have already done Vice City previously, and it seems Rockstar Games is keen to redo every locale since GTA 3: Liberty City and San Andreas have been featured twice. I guess it’s Vice City’s turn. I’m sure GTA 6’s world map will be spectacularly detailed and huge, but I was hoping the franchise will fictionalized another city it has not done before. There’s organized crime and general mayhem to be had in the Seattle/Vancouver area, right?
Nevertheless, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be a day-one release day buy for sure. Best of all, I have more than a whole year to prepare for it. Being not an avid gamer, I will spend 2024 playing the second (of third) entry of the Final Fantasy 7 remake franchise. Then 2025 will roll in perfectly for GTA 6.
This is a library.