Why is GTA 6 taking long to be released?: A deep-down into development, leaks, and more

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 5 was released in 2013 and was ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC the following year. After completing the main campaign, players began competing in its online mode, and soon, GTA Online became largely popular.

Although players enjoyed the game, the start of 2020 saw its fanbase question Rockstar Games' silence regarding a new entry into the franchise. Earlier, five years was the longest gap between any two GTA titles.

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Everything known about GTA 6 so far

While the company may have had its hands full with the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018, two years later, players believed they were finally on the cusp of an official Grand Theft Auto 6 announcement.

Rumors were strong in the early half of 2020 regarding a potential announcement, but nothing came to fruition. A year passed, and Rockstar Games still had nothing to show for the next Grand Theft Auto game. The public outcry continued for 2021, compelling Rockstar Games to confirm Grand Theft Auto 6 in February 2022.

As the playerbase received the information with excitement, on September 18, 2022, around 90 leaked video clips of the development footage of GTA 6 made their way to multiple social media platforms.

While many were excited to watch videos of the highly-anticipated game, others questioned the validity of these clips. The next day, on September 19, 2022, Rockstar Games took to Twitter to confirm that there had indeed been a network intrusion that led to the leaks.

Via the leaks, it was suggested that Lucia and Jason could be the game's two main protagonists, and the place pointed towards a possible setting in Vice City.

Based on the graphics in the videos, many players believed it was probably from the early development phase of the game.

Besides leaks, well-known Rockstar Games insiders like Tez2 have been a constant source of information. Recently, Tez2 had some interesting yet speculated details about the online lobby capacity of Grand Theft Auto 6, which is 32 players.

Tez2 talking about online lobby capacity (Image via GTAForums)

With the arrival of the second installment of Los Santos Drug Wars DLC, The Last Dose, some wondered if the hidden meaning of the DLC title meant it was the last big update for Grand Theft Auto Online.

However, earlier this month, Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto Online design director, Scott Butchard, confirmed in an interview that the company had extensive plans for multiple updates throughout 2023 for the online mode.

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A few days after Scott Butchard's statement, Tez2 had more to share regarding an alleged Holiday 2024 release window for the next game. While nobody expected it to be released this year, more plans for GTA Online have worried fans who want to see Rockstar Games finally announce its next entry into the action-adventure series.

Earlier this year, in February, Take-Two Interactive Software's (Rockstar Games' parent company) CEO admitted that the leaks had an emotional impact on the developers but did not hinder any plans regarding the release of Grand Theft Auto 6.