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It'll come as no surprise to fans of the Grand Theft Auto franchise that the next entry in the series looks set to become one of the biggest entertainment launches in history. That's according to market research firm DFC Intelligence, which has forecast that Grand Theft Auto VI will generate more than $1 billion in preorders alone.
The feverishly-anticipated game, which is confirmed for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, but will not work on PlayStation 4 — forcing millions to upgrade, will generate $3.2 billion in revenue during its first year — roughly twice what its predecessor Grand Theft Auto 5 achieved in the same time period, DFC Intelligence states.
Grand Theft Auto VI will be the next release from Rockstar Games, which has remained tight-lipped since the first trailer back in December 2023, which has amassed a record-breaking 231 million views on YouTube.
And there's a very good reason for that silence, according to an ex-Rockstar Games employee.
Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two has narrowed the release window of Grand Theft Auto VI down to late 2025 on PS5 consoles, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, with a hint that a PC version of the game in the works too, most likely to launch the following year ...provided there are no delays ROCKSTAR GAMES PRESS OFFICE | GBN Developer Mike York — who worked as part of the team responsible for Grand Theft Auto V — believes that Rockstar Games has taken a deliberate decision to remain silent since the initial announcement.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, York revealed the strategy is deliberately designed to build anticipation.
"It creates allure, and it creates mystery, and it creates people talking about it without them having to do anything," York explained. He noted that whilst Rockstar could easily announce trailer dates in advance, their silence is intentional, encouraging fans to develop theories and maintain a discussion about the game.
"The more they're silent, the better it is, because the more people will be antsy and want to talk about it, and kind of have this feeling of not knowing what's going to happen. They could easily release the trailer date and be like, 'Hey, this is when the trailer's coming out,' but they don't do it, and they don't do it on purpose."
All of this excitement is sure to result in record sales, according to Yoshio Osaki, CEO of IDF Consulting, who spoke exclusively to the Finantial Times.
"We think it's going to be one of the biggest entertainment launches in history, not just in games but for all of media," Osaki said. He pointed to extraordinary levels of anticipation amongst fans, noting that "pent-up demand is greater than anything we've seen before."
Rockstar Games has confirmed a vague "fall 2025 release window for Grand Theft Auto VI, although an exact date remains unannounced. In recent months, tipsters have suggested that the lack of information from the developer could be a sign that Grand Theft Auto VI will be delayed into early 2026.
Last year, a string of strikes across Hollywood organised by voice actorsled to fears that Grand Theft Auto wouldn't be finished in time for its launch window.
Likewise, sources within Rockstar Games told gaming publication Kotakuthat the transition from remote-working back to the office could also fuel setbacks.
The ex-Rockstar Games employee believes GTA VI remains on schedule for its 2025 release.
When it finally hits store shelves, industry watchers believe that Grand Theft Auto VI will not earn record revenue for Rockstar Games, but could also increase the RRP of video games for the entire industry.
The game will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S at launch. If previous launches from Rockstar Games are anything to go by, a PC version of the new GTA will debut one year later.
Outside of the next satircal crime-caper from Rockstar Games, this year is already shaping up to be a landmark year for the gaming industry. A follow-up to the Nintendo Switch — one of the best-selling consoles of all-time — is expected in the coming months, while other hotly-anticipated titles include Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Little is known about the plot of Grand Theft Auto VI, but the first trailer hints at a Bonnie and Clyde-like story that follows the first female protagonist in the GTA franchise since 2000, known as Lucia and her partner as they rampage across the fictional US state of Leonida
ROCKSTAR GAMES PRESS OFFICE | GBNOne of the most persistent rumours swirling around the protracted development of Grand Theft Auto VI is that its total budget has topped $1 billion.
Its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto V holds the record as one of the most expensive games ever made, with a budget of $265 million (£212m) during its development between 2008 and 2013.
With the graphical fidelity and scope of modern video games, the amount of time — and money — required to put together follow-up is likely much higher, although crucially, nobody from Rockstar Games or publisher Take-Two has verified the mooted $1 billion.
The rumoured price increase coming to GTA 6 across all console releases comes just a few days after Facebook parent company Meta confirmed plans to freeze development of the first-ever Virtual Reality (VR) entry into the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
Meta, which is worth £1.3 trillion, revealed that it was working with Rockstar Games, the team behind Grand Theft Auto, on a project "many years in the making" back in 2021. The VR title would be an immersive reimagining of GTA: San Andreas, first launched in 2004 on PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
GTA 6, stylised as Grand Theft Auto VI, returns the action to the fictional city of Vice City, which is Rockstar Games' satirical version of Miami that featured in the 2002 GTA release of the same name ROCKSTAR GAMES It was originally developed for the Meta Quest 2, but development on this all-new GTA title has dragged on for so long that Meta has since launched an upgraded version of its VR headset, the Meta Quest 3 to compete head-to-head with the Apple Vision Pro.
"GTA: San Andreas is on hold indefinitely while we both focus on other projects," a spokesperson for Meta Quest VR confirmed in a comment under an unrelated YouTube video. "We look forward to working with our friends at Rockstar in the future."
Despite work seemingly taking place on the upgraded new iteration of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas — the seventh mainline entry into the blockbuster game series — for at least three years, Meta and Rockstar Games never released an official trailer, in-game footage, or poster for the title.
However, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who very likely tested an early beta version of the game during development, once shared that "this new version" of Grand Theft Auto will "offer players an entirely new way to experience this iconic open world in virtual reality." It's unclear whether we'll ever get the chance to revisit the fictional city of San Andreas in an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) gameplay.
It's interesting that Meta and Rockstar Games have gone out of their way not to label the project as "cancelled," although the fact that it's on hold "indefinitely" doesn't inspire much confidence that it'll launch for VR headset wearers anytime soon.
With nothing else to focus on, Grand Theft Auto fans will be hopeful that Rockstar Games will be able to make its deadline ...despite the radio-silence on any new details about the game. Currently pencilled in for late 2025, GTA 6 is expected to be one of the biggest launches of all-time.
Grand Theft Auto V first launched 11 years ago on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Since then, the popular title has appeared on another two console generations, with an upgraded version of the decade-old video game launching on the latest consoles from Xbox and Sony in early 2022 GETTY IMAGES Its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto V, has gone on to become the biggest-selling entertainment product in history, with $6 billion in revenue to its name since its launch over a decade ago. The long wait between instalments in the Grand Theft Auto franchise is an outlier in the industry, with other chart-topping series, like Call of Duty, EA Sports FC, and Pokémon, typically launching new games every year.
Experts believe the next instalment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise could break its own record sales numbers. Its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto V, still holds the crown for the best opening week of sales in video game history — raking in $1.15bn (£1.2bn) in five days. It has gone on to become the second biggest game of all-time, although it's still 100 million copies behind the Gold Medalist, Minecraft.
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Although it's worth noting that Grand Theft Auto V has now appeared on three console generations, starting with the Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 back in September 2013. An upgraded version of the game launched on the latest crop of video game consoles, Xbox Series X|S and Sony PS5, in March 2022 with support for 4K Ultra HD visuals, ray-tracing, 60 frames-per-second, and 3D audio.
The continued popularity of the game is partly attributed to GTA Online.
But many like Dmitri Williams, a video game business expert and professor at University of Southern California, expect the long-awaited follow-up to perform even better.
He said: "The brand is as strong or stronger than it was before, but additionally the game industry is larger. If it maintains the same slice of the pie, it's going to be big, because it will come from a bigger pie.
"The games industry is simply massive globally, and is no single genre or platform. It's so large and so varied that even fractions of it are larger than whole parallel industries like movies.”
The next instalment of the popular Grand Theft Auto series will take gamers back to Vice City, which last appeared in 2006's Vice City Stories. Rockstar Games has already confirmed the franchise will use a female protagonist for the first time since 2000, known as Lucia.
Little is known about the plot of the satirical action-adventure game, but it's widely expected to mirror the misadventures of Bonnie and Clyde across a fictional US State that spoofs on Florida, dubbed Leonida.
