Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has just unloaded bevy of information in regards to Rockstar Games and their highly anticipated upcoming IP, Grand Theft Auto VI. This includes changing their work culture which was initially reported back in 2018 when Read Dead Redemption 2 was coming out. Schreier reports that the company morale has vastly improved, and has also revealed that Grand Theft Auto VI will feature a playable female protagonist, a first for the entire franchise.
According to the report, the in-game overworld is already very large, with more areas and cities being added. The report also states that Grand Theft Auto VI will have more interior locations than previous entries, such as more buildings to be able to actually walk inside and congregate with other NPCs. As we mentioned, the game will feature a female protagonist, alongside a male protagonist. The two are also heavily influenced by Bonnie and Clyde, the two famous bank robbers from the Great Depression, and the female will reportedly be a Latina.
In addition, the report also suggests that the development has slowed a bit, due to both the workplace culture changes and the continuing worldwide effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Schreier states that the game is still slated to release at some point, as his sources in the report state that “they expect the game to be at least two years away.” The working title for the game is “Project Americas” and will take place in a fictionalized place of Miami, Florida. Previous entries in the Grand Theft Auto franchise have taken place in Vice City, a take on downtown Miami itself. It’s still unclear if Vice City will be used here again, or if Rockstar is going to create a brand new city for the player.
Schreier also reports that the development on the game won’t cease after it releases, as the studio will add new content such as missions and cities, unlike Grand Theft Auto V in which the story mode came as it was. The overall goal with this project coincided with the workplace culture change, which includes mitigating crunch time and any extra work that the studio puts its developers through. As of this writing, there is still no official release date, but as the report states, we expect Grand Theft Auto VI to launch in the next two years, either in 2024 or 2025.