GTA 6: Release Date, Leaks, Location & More

GTA 6 news, leaks and rumours have just picked up massively following the possible leak of test gameplay footage.

The game's existence was officially confirmed some time ago but many are wondering when we will see more information.

All the signs suggest that we may see something by the end of the year, but we won't be making any major bets on that! Here's what we know about it so far.

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LATEST - Is 2023 the year of GTA 6?

While it seems unlikely that GTA 6 will release in 2023, this year could still entirely revolve around speculation over Rockstars' next big open-world title.

There are some huge games already announced for next year but nothing would come close to matching the hype of any official announcement for a new Grand Theft Auto game.

If we are going to receive anything official be it a trailer or release window reveal, it would almost certainly arrive in the second half of the year. While it remains to be seen, Rockstar knows that they still hold all the cards even after the leak in late 2022.

Rockstar Confirms Leak is Legitimate

Following a day of speculation, Rockstar Games put out a statement confirming that the leaked gameplay footage is real. The culprit behind the hack has been identified and has a history of such incidents that typically lead to extortion.

What Rockstar have also stated is that this incident will not affect the current development of GTA 6 or any other ongoing projects.

Has GTA 6 Test Gameplay Footage Leaked?

Some very convincing footage has leaked online that is believed to be from GTA 6's development tests. As we're unable to confirm its legitimacy we would advise taking precautions when viewing the footage.

Rockstar is not used to leaks on such a grand scale so only time will tell if this is actually a case of footage being stolen, leaked or faked.

Major Update Reported by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg's Jason Schreier has just published a massive report about Rockstar, their desire to clean up their image and what we can expect from the highly-anticipated GTA 6.

The article starts by talking about GTA Online and how Rockstar decided against a "Cops 'n' Crooks" game mode after the summer of 2020 brought police violence to public scrutiny after the killing of George Floyd by a police officer.

This is one of several cultural changes that have been made at Rockstar in recent years, with a workplace culture shift that has seemingly removed a lot of concerns regarding crunch culture and workplace mistreatment

GTA 6, meanwhile, has had a lot of information revealed with a playable female protagonist being included for the first time. The character is apparently a Latina woman and will be one of two playable characters based on Bonnie and Clyde.

The development of GTA 6 has been a lot slower than many Rockstar staff have expected along with the departure of long-time employee Dan Houser means that GTA 6 may look a lot different than prior games.

Gaming news account Nibellion would post even more details about the game and the scale fans can expect to see:

New GTA 6 Details Revealed by Rockstar Employees

Senior Cinematics Camera Artist Nathan Hunt and Senior animator Ryan Schacter have both had their LinkedIn profiles examined very closely by fans of the GTA franchise lately as both men had listed "Grand Theft Auto 6" in the Experience section of their profiles, potentially revealing some information regarding the highly-anticipated game.

Hunt's profile listed GTA 6 next other titles he's worked on including Red Dead Redemption 2, Red Dead: Online and GTA Online before explaining what he does in his role.

This has led to increased speculation around GTA 6 with some of the points, such as Hunt's involvement with "...Seamless transitions from cinematics to in-game." potentially implying the return of multiple playable protagonists.

Schacter's profile, meanwhile, gives us a much clearer understanding as to what could be coming in GTA 6 with a section dedicated to the work on the game specifically.

Since this info began spreading around, however, it's worth mentioning that the two developers have scrubbed their profiles clean of any and all mentions of GTA 6 with Hunt making his account private to avoid any further leaks of information.

Most Liked Gaming Tweet of all time

As pointed out by Dexerto, the RockStar Games' announcement of GTA 6 is officially the most liked gaming tweet of all time.

As of the time of publishing, it has 599.4k Likes, 104.6K retweets and 40.6K Quote Tweets. These are some seriously impressive figures.

Reveal due this fall?

Based on how Rockstar plans out their major releases, we're led to believe that the official reveal and first look at GTA 6 could come this fall.

Even with a planned 2024 release date, the timelines still add up for how GTA 5 was revealed and released with nearly 2 years between those dates.

Actor leaks involvement with GTA 6

Sometimes it's best just to keep your mouth shut, no matter how exciting the news might be. Guy A. Fordtt is certainly wishing he did after tweeting about his potential involvement in GTA 6.

Rockstar confirm GTA 6 development is "well underway"

After years of rumours and reports, Rockstar has confirmed that they are working on a new Grand Theft Auto game, stating that it's "well underway". This is the first time that the studio has acknowledged anything GTA 6 related, so hopefully, we'll hear more news soon.

Although Rockstar Games touched upon GTA 5's "unprecedented longevity" as well as what's to come for GTA in the future, the company didn't mention anything about a release date.

It's tough to tell what the release window for GTA 6 will look like, especially with GTA V next-gen releasing on March 15, 2022 and GTA V going on nine years of existence. One thing's for certain, though, we're much closer to an official announcement now that Rockstar have revealed that the game is in progress.

Definitive Trilogy Will Teach Patience

Once again we find ourselves in a spot where a game was hyped and didn't deliver on its promises. Granted, it's on a slightly smaller scale this time, but the failings of the GTA Definitive Edition Trilogy will teach fans to be patient when it comes to GTA 6.

Even Rockstar is sick of hearing about GTA 6 now!

Rockstar has taken drastic action by muting the term GTA 6 on their youtube channel. Any comments left with the term included will not be posted.

Prolific Rockstar content creator StrangeMan showed proof that the comments are no longer appearing.

GTA 6 Should bring back Real Estate and Businesses

One feature from GTA: Vice City that was mostly loved was business and real estate management. It didn't play a huge role in the game but for those chasing 100% completion, it was a requirement.

We would love to see this return in GTA 6 in a larger capacity, perhaps how it was handled in games like Saint's Row.

Fan storms live TV Show demanding GTA 6

In one of the strangest gaming stories ever, a fan stormed the set of a live German TV show demanding a GTA 6 release date.

The video can be found on this German Reddit page. The encounter is both bizarre and awkward. Fortunately, everything was handled calmly but it does seem like it takes an age for security to apprehend the intruder.

Release Date Rumours Backed Up By Major Sources

It appears the wait for GTA 6 is truly set to be a few years longer yet. Popular Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has backed up the rumoured 2025 release date from @_Tom_Henderson_

Both have stated that what they are hearing out of Rockstar Games matches up and a 2025 release date is the most likely scenario.

What We Want From A Vice City Map

With reports suggesting that GTA 6 is set to take place on a modern Vice City map, we took a look at what are the biggest things we want to see.

READ MORE: What We Want From A Modern Vice City Map In GTA 6

Whether it's bringing back the gyms of San Andreas or the shopping mechanics from Red Dead Redemption 2, we know what we want and we won't settle until we get it!

GTA 6 Release Date & Setting Reportedly Leaked

He has mentioned how cryptocurrency could be used in GTA 6 in the past, but @_Tom_Henderson_ is back with some more GTA 6 leaks.

In a new GTA 6 focused video, moving away from his normal Battlefield and Call of Duty focus, he talks about various things he's heard over the last few months.

According to his sources, GTA 6 will not release until 2025, it will be set in a modern version of Vice City, and will feature an evolving map.

Whether means parts of the map will be replaced every few months, like Fortnite and warzone, it's not clear, but it could offer various ways of expanding GTA Online.

Cryptocurrency Could Be Used In GTA 6

Trusted leaker Tom Henderson recently revealed that cryptocurrency could play a part in GTA 6, being a method of currency in the game, with it being used by "higher up characters that need, it, to transfer high amounts of untraceable cash and fast."

"I heard recently that in GTA 6, some missions will reward you in bitcoin instead of cash for completing some missions. The stock market feature will return, with the addition of a broker for different cryptocurrencies. If GTA 6 incorporates this right, it's huge for crypto.

Just so there's no confusion, I mean in-game payments of bitcoin. These payments will come from the more higher up characters that needs to transfer high amounts of "untraceable cash and fast".

Just so there's even less confusion - I'm not joking. This is what I heard from someone that I trust and it will likely not be called "Bitcoin" per say - But it will be a cryptocurrency."

This would be interesting to see and makes sense as Rockstar Games has always had its finger on the pulse when it comes to including the latest trends and pop culture into the GTA series.

Release Date

So far there has been no official release date given.

But, with GTA V launching back in 2013 it is very safe to say that GTA 6 is in development.

Platforms

With a potential 2023 release window, we will be right in the middle of the next generation lifecycle, meaning that it, is extremely unlikely we will see the game release on either the PS4 or Xbox One.

Instead, it will release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

GTA V didn't release on PC for two years after the console release, but with the popularity of the PC version of GTA V, it is likely we will see a launch of GTA 6 on PC from day 1, or at least fairly close to it.

Missions

It has been rumoured that the game will feature a 100-hour next-gen story mode, filled to the brim with dozens of missions.

With the size of the next-gen games, it is very likely we will see an install of around 200GB, so we could definitely see a very large campaign.

100 hours may be a bit much, but definitely 50-70 hours.

READ MORE: GTA Online: Cayo Perico Heist COUNTDOWN - Patch Notes, Release Date, Map, Trailer, Vehicles, Download Size, Latest News & more

Online

GTA Online is a huge part of Rockstar's portfolio, generating over $700 million per year in revenue.

This could also be part of the reason why they haven't rushed to release GTA 6 because they are generating huge amounts of money with the online side of the game.

The mode recently saw its first map change since the game launched, a sign that more changes could happen in the future.

With the release of GTA 6, of single-player it is unlikely the online side will stay in Los Santos, instead of transferring over to the new map.

Rockstar could also be using the online part to test features, such as the single-player heists in the Cayo Perico expansion.

READ MORE: Dr Dre Guest Stars In New GTA Online Cayo Perico Heist

Job Listing Hints At GTA 6

A job listing was posted on Monster looking for an environment artist to "Join our team to create next-generation worlds".

It is fair to assume this is referring to upcoming PS5 and Xbox Series X games.

In the listing, it states one of the responsibilities as "creating and texturing environment assets for the biggest and best open-world environment in the industry".

When players think of the best open-world games, Grand Theft Auto is always top of that list, as well as Red Dead Redemption.

But with Red Dead Redemption 2 launching in 2018, it is very likely referring to a new GTA game.

With a decade passing since the release of GTA V, that sounds entirely plausible.

GTA 6 Name Leaked?

The GTA series has seen numerous variations when it comes to its naming structure.

From the regular Grand Theft Auto with a number to the more spin-off variant like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

It has been suggested that the next entry in the series will combine both of them, with a clever play on words.

It has been rumoured that the next title in the series will be called Grand Theft Auto VI(CE) CITY.

By looking at the map for the "Height Of Society" from GTA Online's recent racing DLC, it does show a potential hint of the next game being focused around Florida and Mexico.

This could hint at the next location for GTA 6 since Vice City is based in, Miami.

Map Leak Suggests A Second Location

Recently, we reported on a 4Chan leak of the GTA 6 map, which could hold a lot of weight based on previous reports as the game appears to be set in Vice City, which is modelled after Miami, Florida.

This map shows what appears to be an island similar to Florida, which is home to Miami and where Vice City is based on.

Leaks also appear to show a second island, which you can see below.

Players on the GTA sub-Reddit have speculated that this could be based on Rio De Janeiro, another location that has been rumoured for many months for GTA 6.

If these leaks are true, the island locations could show a larger emphasis on boats and planes, which could also open up the possibility of more hijacking missions and vehicle gameplay online.

Could GTA 6 Be Influenced By WoW?

Last year saw the addition of the Cayo Perico Heists to GTA Online, the first time the map had been expanded since its launch in 2014.

Could this be a test for GTA 6?

With the game rumoured to take place in many different locations, it is possible we could see expansion packs released for the game, much like MMORPGs such as World Of Warcraft.

This could allow them to create a vast expansive world without having to delay the game for longer than it already will be, the current rumour is a 2023 release so a decade after GTA V.

We could also see the game return to many iconic, and even new locations.

Classic locations such as Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas could all be in the game, as well as a return to London.

GTA 6 NPCs Will Be Self Aware

Rockstars Games has applied to patent a new technology called "System and Method for Virtual Navigation in a Gaming Environment".

The patent describes a new system that will allow NPCs to act intelligently and react to situations and hazards in real-time.

This is explained in the patent, with it stating that,

"As an additional drawback, conventional systems relied almost entirely on local traffic avoidance for NPCs to avoid collisions. This involves, each frame, checking the local environment for any potential obstructions (vehicles, pedestrians, objects), building up a view of that obstruction from the local vehicle (creating a `front facing` polygon which is a list of points/lines that the vehicle will need to avoid in order to not hit the obstruction), generating information about the road the vehicle is on so they can avoid going off-road into buildings and finally generating and detecting the best steering angle to avoid all the obstructions. This is done every frame for each entity and no knowledge of the previous frame is used. This can result in very late detection of potential issues and no high level knowledge of `this road is blocked;` instead, the system only indicates that there's something in my way to be avoided. Vehicles cannot plan accordingly, for example, if there is any type of road blockage."

But this new system will allow the NPCs to react to situations in real-time and plan new routes if their current one is blocked.

READ MORE: GTA 6 rumours that we hope are true

The NPC could also decide to avoid the highway altogether if the player is going on a 5-star rampage with a rocket launcher.