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GTA6 Still "In Early Stages Of Development", to be "smaller at launch" than Previous Entries according to Kotaku's Schreier

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
Long awaited news on Grand Theft Auto 6 is still a ways off, according to a newly published article from Kotaku's Jason Schreier.

In a article updating the cultural changes occuring at the top levels of Rockstar, some development information about GTA6 is casually dropped;

"One plan that management has laid out for the next game, a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, is to start out with a moderately sized release (which, by Rockstar’s standards, would still be a large game) that is then expanded with regular updates over time, which may help mitigate stress and crunch. "



So a smaller GTA6 at release then we're used to, when it does launch. However, it's then mentioned that the game is still "in the early stages of development" and that when it begins wrapping up, it's possible things may change regarding crunch and required hours.


I'll be honest with you -- I don't really care a whole lot about the cultural changes at Rockstar -- I just want them to continue being possibly the best development studio out there. And this news about GTA6 being so early digs a bit. "Early" in a Rockstar development cycle could mean we'll be waiting realistically 7 more years for the game to release, probably another 4-5 years until we hear details or it's even announced. And with the recent departure of their main creative lead & writer Dan Houser, it could be an even longer wait.




What do you guys think?
 
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Well this is just shit.

We went THE ENTIRE GEN without a new GTA game. GTA 5 launched at the end of the PS3 and 360 gen.

I'm genuinely surprised that they didn't have GTA6 ready for later this year for the Xbox one and PS4. Then they could have released a next gen and PC version in 2021. They did exactly this last gen and it worked out insanely well.

Yeah yeah "take your time and get it right" Bla bla. GTA 5 released in 2013. Haven't they taken enough time yet?

So we've already waited for 7 years, are being told to wait a lot longer still, and after all that waiting be prepared for a smaller GTA game than usual.

Great /s
 
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joe_zazen

Member
Well this is just shit.

We went THE ENTIRE GEN without a new GTA game. GTA 5 launched at the end of the PS3 and 360 gen.

I'm genuinely surprised that they didn't have GTA6 ready for later this year for the Xbox one and PS4. Then they could have released a next gen and PC version in 2021. They did exactly this last gen and it worked out insanely well.

Yeah yeah "take your time and get it right" Bla bla. GTA 5 released in 2013. Haven't they taken enough time yet?

So we've already waited for 7 years, are being told to wait a lot longer still, and after all that waiting be prepared for a smaller GTA game than usual.

Great /s

gta is primarily a multiplayer game now. That is where money and talent is.
 

Gediminas

Banned
Well this is just shit.

We went THE ENTIRE GEN without a new GTA game. GTA 5 launched at the end of the PS3 and 360 gen.

I'm genuinely surprised that they didn't have GTA6 ready for later this year for the Xbox one and PS4. Then they could have released a next gen and PC version in 2021. They did exactly this last gen and it worked out insanely well.

Yeah yeah "take your time and get it right" Bla bla. GTA 5 released in 2013. Haven't they taken enough time yet?

So we've already waited for 7 years, are being told to wait a lot longer still, and after all that waiting be prepared for a smaller GTA game than usual.

Great /s
pretty much what i am thinking too. this is bull... 7 years past. it should be pretty much done to release and we are getting news just now that they are in a early development and a game is smaller, why it is smaller? it is not like they did not make any money to do better than previous game. pathetic. there is no excuse.

on other hand, they became money slaves, so they going to do the smaller game as possible and monetize as much as they can.
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
GTA VI taking 7+ years
Elder Scrolls VI taking 9+ years

Jeesh, hopefully people are comfortable as this may turn into Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III dev times.

Don’t forget RDR2 taking 10. There may come a point where I’m okay with budget visuals, if it means actually getting an open world game out in less than a decade.

I mean, to put that in context, I’ve noticed a lot of people on this board are around thirty. Which means you’d be finally playing RDR4, when you’re fifty, or maybe more.
 

icerock

Member
As long as the single player campaign is still a decent length then I'm good

Temper your expectations, head writer/producer of Rockstar Games and all GTA games Dan Houser left the company last year.

Given how GTA Online seems to print money for them, I expect SP to be quite limited in next rendition with majority of content on map being filled with activities/quests like Destiny.
 

semicool

Banned
Schreier has been wrong on many things before and rewrites history when that happens....so .....who knows?
 
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Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
Temper your expectations, head writer/producer of Rockstar Games and all GTA games Dan Houser left the company last year.

Given how GTA Online seems to print money for them, I expect SP to be quite limited in next rendition with majority of content on map being filled with activities/quests like Destiny.
Well if that happens they can count me out, I only ever play the SP campaigns. I'm sure they won't miss my $60 though lol
 

BluRayHiDef

Banned
I figured that this was the case, considering that they've spent a bulk of the past years working on Red Dead Redemption 2. They probably started working on GTAVI after Red Dead Redemption 2's release.
 

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
Well this is just shit.

We went THE ENTIRE GEN without a new GTA game. GTA 5 launched at the end of the PS3 and 360 gen.

I'm genuinely surprised that they didn't have GTA6 ready for later this year for the Xbox one and PS4. Then they could have released a next gen and PC version in 2021. They did exactly this last gen and it worked out insanely well.

Yeah yeah "take your time and get it right" Bla bla. GTA 5 released in 2013. Haven't they taken enough time yet?

So we've already waited for 7 years, are being told to wait a lot longer still, and after all that waiting be prepared for a smaller GTA game than usual.

Great /s

Well, they did put out RDR2 which was a huge endeavor, but are a world-spanning, 2000+ employee studio and could probably handle multiple humongous projects simultaneously. So hopefully that means an LA Noir 2 or Max Payne sequel before then.


But probably not.
gta 6 in 2026 it is then

Sad but probably true. By then the consoles will have a nice install base and GTA6 will be able to make the maximum amount of money.
Smaller at launch what, singleplayer or multiplayer?
If cuts are gonna be made, I'm assuming it's single-player, given the money-horse GTA5's online has been.
 

Perrott

Gold Member
There's something off about Schreier's article and how he says that GTA VI its Rockstar's next game after RDR2, as well as its current development status.

Back in march of 2016 Techradar reported that "preliminary work has begun on Grand Theft Auto 6, but said a location had not yet been settled on." (link) and around that time Yan2295 (former Rockstar insider, who leaked the remaster of L.A. Noire among other things and was asked by T2 to stop leaking stuff a few years ago) mentioned that Rockstar North had four teams working on different projects: GTA Online content, Red Dead Redemption 2, a non-GTA game (which is Bully 2, later I'll explain why) and preproduction of the next Grand Theft Auto.

A year later, in 2017, Yan posted a comment on GTA Forums stating that "Bully 2 is indeed in development and is supposed to be the next game after RDR2." (link) and then he clarified on Twitter that Bully 2 was the "non-GTA game" in development at Rockstar North (link). A few months later, a gaming website called GameZone also reported that "Bully 2 is and has been in development" (the source was also referring to a Bully 2 version that was cancelled in 2013) and was "likely the next game after RDR 2." (link).

Then in march of 2018, The Know (they leaked the first screenshots of Dark Souls 3 days before it's announcement at E3 2015 and also several Borderlands 3 details in december of 2018, which turned out to be accurate as well) uploaded a video on their youtube channel revealing exclusive details about Grand Theft Auto VI, like the return to Vice City, a new location in South America and a target release date of 2021/2022 (link).

And a few months ago, a Bully/Rockstar youtuber called SWEGTA (who runs a serious, non-clickbait driven YT channel, unlike many other Rockstar-centered youtube creators) said that he entered in contact with a source who told him that Rockstar was preparing to release a cross-gen game for consoles during our current fiscal year (april 2020 to march 2021), with the target release date being holidays of this year (link).

Because all of that I found really shocking the fact that, according to Jason, there won't be a Bully 2 between RDR2 and the next GTA; and also I cannot believe that VI it's still in "early development" when we actually have been getting reports about it's development for four years now.
 
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Jon Neu

Banned
Don’t forget RDR2 taking 10. There may come a point where I’m okay with budget visuals, if it means actually getting an open world game out in less than a decade.

I mean, to put that in context, I’ve noticed a lot of people on this board are around thirty. Which means you’d be finally playing RDR4, when you’re fifty, or maybe more.

I don't understand this criticism at all. When some other companies make games every one or two years, we criticize it because they are burning the franchises and are not taking their time to do the games properly. But if a company like Rockstar takes it's time to create this unbelievable amazing games both in scope and detail, then we critize it too because that's “too long”. Well, you can't have it all.

If we take the last 12 years for example, they have released GTAIV, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3, GTAV and Red Dead Redemption 2. Even if we take Max Payne out of the equation, that's still a super production every 3/4 years. Not bad at all.
 
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There's something off about Schreier's article and how he says that GTA VI its Rockstar's next game after RDR2, as well as its current development status.

Back in march of 2016 Techradar reported that "preliminary work has begun on Grand Theft Auto 6, but said a location had not yet been settled on." (link) and around that time Yan2295 (former Rockstar insider, who leaked the remaster of L.A. Noire among other things and was asked by T2 to stop leaking stuff a few years ago) mentioned that Rockstar North had four teams working on different projects: GTA Online content, Red Dead Redemption 2, a non-GTA game (which is Bully 2, later I'll explain why) and preproduction of the next Grand Theft Auto.

A year later, in 2017, Yan posted a comment on GTA Forums stating that "Bully 2 is indeed in development and is supposed to be the next game after RDR2." (link) and then he clarified on Twitter that Bully 2 was the "non-GTA game" in development at Rockstar North (link). A few months later, a gaming website called GameZone also reported that "Bully 2 is and has been in development" (the source was also referring to a Bully 2 version that was cancelled in 2013) and was "likely the next game after RDR 2." (link).

Then in march of 2018, The Know (they leaked the first screenshots of Dark Souls 3 days before it's announcement at E3 2015 and also several Borderlands 3 details in december of 2018, which turned out to be accurate as well) uploaded a video on their youtube channel revealing exclusive details about Grand Theft Auto VI, like the return to Vice City, a new location in South America and a target release date of 2022/2023 (link).

And a few months ago, a Bully/Rockstar youtuber called SWEGTA (who runs a serious, non-clickbait driven YT channel, unlike many other Rockstar-centered youtube creators) said that he entered in contact with a source who told him that Rockstar was preparing to release a cross-gen game for consoles during our current fiscal year (april 2020 to march 2021), with the target release date being holidays of this year (link).

Because all of that I found really shocking the fact that, according to Jason, there won't be a Bully 2 between RDR2 and the next GTA; and also I cannot believe that VI it's still in "early development" when we actually have been getting reports about it's development for four years now.
Fantastic summarization of the previous reports.

I agree: something is weird about GTA VI being in early stages. Either they're lying to maintain the element of surprise or they rebooted GTA VI due to Dan Houser and other senior developers leaving Rockstar Games and having no choice but to reboot.

That would be a damn shame and I hope Sony creates a new studio for Dan and his team as part of the WWS.
 
"Smaller at launch" sounds like it's gonna be episodic with a focus on multiplayer cash printing bullshit.

I'm yet to be let down by Rock$tar though, so fingers crossed. GTA5 is all time for me.

JKnKHvH.jpg
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
I don't understand this criticism at all. When some other companies make games every one or two years, we criticize it because they are burning the franchises and are not taking their time to do the games properly. But if a company like Rockstar takes it's time to create this unbelievable amazing games both in scope and detail, then we critize it too because that's “too long”. Well, you can't have it all.

If we take the last 12 years for example, they have released GTAIV, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3, GTAV and Red Dead Redemption 2. Even if we take Max Payne out of the equation, that's still a super production every 3/4 years. Not bad at all.

360-era games don’t count. It seems to be the current gen where development times are getting really, truly crazy. The ten year figure is from Rockstar themselves.

There’s likewise a huge spectrum inbetween annual games (which still have long development times — you just don’t see it due to multiple teams and games in production at the same time), and taking ten years to produce a sequel. I would prefer to be in the middle of that spectrum, not at the far ends.
 

Uzupedro

Member
This may be an unpopular opinion. But I'm really happy with that, of course huge productions like RDR2 are great. But I think that while doing smaller productions they can take a more creative risk. They haven't had any new IPs for a long time. Then after that period making smaller games they can do something from the scope of RDR2 again if they want.
 

Jon Neu

Banned
360-era games don’t count. It seems to be the current gen where development times are getting really, truly crazy. The ten year figure is from Rockstar themselves.

There’s likewise a huge spectrum inbetween annual games (which still have long development times — you just don’t see it due to multiple teams and games in production at the same time), and taking ten years to produce a sequel. I would prefer to be in the middle of that spectrum, not at the far ends.

I prefer them to take their time and still produce the same quality. If we want normal triple A games we have the rest of the developers already, I prefer Rockstar to do their thing instead of becoming like the rest.

It's a painful wait, but I'm ok with Red Dead Redemption 3 been released in 2028 for the next next gen consoles and GTA6 being the great super production for the next gen if that means they are going to be as good as their predecessors.
 

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
There's something off about Schreier's article and how he says that GTA VI its Rockstar's next game after RDR2, as well as its current development status.

Back in march of 2016 Techradar reported that "preliminary work has begun on Grand Theft Auto 6, but said a location had not yet been settled on." (link) and around that time Yan2295 (former Rockstar insider, who leaked the remaster of L.A. Noire among other things and was asked by T2 to stop leaking stuff a few years ago) mentioned that Rockstar North had four teams working on different projects: GTA Online content, Red Dead Redemption 2, a non-GTA game (which is Bully 2, later I'll explain why) and preproduction of the next Grand Theft Auto.

A year later, in 2017, Yan posted a comment on GTA Forums stating that "Bully 2 is indeed in development and is supposed to be the next game after RDR2." (link) and then he clarified on Twitter that Bully 2 was the "non-GTA game" in development at Rockstar North (link). A few months later, a gaming website called GameZone also reported that "Bully 2 is and has been in development" (the source was also referring to a Bully 2 version that was cancelled in 2013) and was "likely the next game after RDR 2." (link).

Then in march of 2018, The Know (they leaked the first screenshots of Dark Souls 3 days before it's announcement at E3 2015 and also several Borderlands 3 details in december of 2018, which turned out to be accurate as well) uploaded a video on their youtube channel revealing exclusive details about Grand Theft Auto VI, like the return to Vice City, a new location in South America and a target release date of 2022/2023 (link).

And a few months ago, a Bully/Rockstar youtuber called SWEGTA (who runs a serious, non-clickbait driven YT channel, unlike many other Rockstar-centered youtube creators) said that he entered in contact with a source who told him that Rockstar was preparing to release a cross-gen game for consoles during our current fiscal year (april 2020 to march 2021), with the target release date being holidays of this year (link).

Because all of that I found really shocking the fact that, according to Jason, there won't be a Bully 2 between RDR2 and the next GTA; and also I cannot believe that VI it's still in "early development" when we actually have been getting reports about it's development for four years now.
Problem with "reports", "rumors", and "rumblings" is that they're just that - complete bullshit until they materialize. Look at how many of the "insiders" here were utterly wrong about almost every facet of PS5/XSX. Love him or hate him, Schreier's got one of the best track records in the entire business and I can't remember the last time he was wrong about something. So until he fucks up, he's the only reliable source of information outside of Rockstar themselves.

Also, he did refer to GTA6 as Rockstar's next BIG project, which would line up and potentially exclude Bully 2 from the conversation since Bully 2 would be expected to sell less than a monster franchise like GTA6, or another Max Payne or RDR.
 
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Kagoshima_Luke

Gold Member
Ah yes, Early Access GTA. Pay more for less. Hope for quality updates to validate more spent upfront. Oh, and more microtransactions than ever before.

best-surprise-middle-finger-animated-gif.gif
 

Ceadeus

Gold Member
Well this is just shit.

We went THE ENTIRE GEN without a new GTA game. GTA 5 launched at the end of the PS3 and 360 gen.

I'm genuinely surprised that they didn't have GTA6 ready for later this year for the Xbox one and PS4. Then they could have released a next gen and PC version in 2021. They did exactly this last gen and it worked out insanely well.

Yeah yeah "take your time and get it right" Bla bla. GTA 5 released in 2013. Haven't they taken enough time yet?

So we've already waited for 7 years, are being told to wait a lot longer still, and after all that waiting be prepared for a smaller GTA game than usual.

Great /s

Well, these game take a long time to develop. They gave us RDR2 with is something!
 

DaMonsta

Member
Don’t know how much I trust this guys “insider info”

Rockstar has to top RDR2.

Can’t see them dropping a game smaller in scope unless they are gonna go with some type of FTP or subscription model
 

Gamernyc78

Banned
Long awaited news on Grand Theft Auto 6 is still a ways off, according to a newly published article from Kotaku's Jason Schreier.

In a article updating the cultural changes occuring at the top levels of Rockstar, some development information about GTA6 is casually dropped;

"One plan that management has laid out for the next game, a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, is to start out with a moderately sized release (which, by Rockstar’s standards, would still be a large game) that is then expanded with regular updates over time, which may help mitigate stress and crunch. "



So a smaller GTA6 at release then we're used to, when it does launch. However, it's then mentioned that the game is still "in the early stages of development" and that when it begins wrapping up, it's possible things may change regarding crunch and required hours.


I'll be honest with you -- I don't really care a whole lot about the cultural changes at Rockstar -- I just want them to continue being possibly the best development studio out there. And this news about GTA6 being so early digs a bit. "Early" in a Rockstar development cycle could mean we'll be waiting realistically 7 more years for the game to release, probably another 4-5 years until we hear details or it's even announced. And with the recent departure of their main creative lead & writer Dan Houser, it could be an even longer wait.




What do you guys think?

OH boyyyy "cultural changes" can mean alot of things and I know its not in the context here but I just hope it's not a shift to some snowflake, sjw type bs thinking. I don't want my GTA changed to some pansy pg13 bs.
 

abcdrstuv

Banned
Yeah idk, Rockstar's model is increasingly unsustainable.. you take 10 years to make a game, and you need 10 months to play it if you're a normal busy adult.. No Man's Sky and Fallout 76 could make the most sense for the future, even if they're bad role models - get core game systems in place and gradually build onto them..

I don't know how Ubisoft cranks out so many huge games, except that they don't have Rockstar's attention to detail and they don't overthink it - spam a bunch of locations and repetitive activities and fetch quests.. In the end, I'm not sure even AC Origins has less going on than GTA 5.. The difference is that Houser et al. obsess over details of plotting and atmosphere and style.. something halfway between Ubisoft's quasi-spamming new open worlds and going full Kubrick is is probably ideal.
 

TimFL

Member
Don’t forget RDR2 taking 10. There may come a point where I’m okay with budget visuals, if it means actually getting an open world game out in less than a decade.

I mean, to put that in context, I’ve noticed a lot of people on this board are around thirty. Which means you’d be finally playing RDR4, when you’re fifty, or maybe more.
I‘m not okay with this sentiment. I get your point of view, but if I had the choice of waiting a decade for another game like RDR2 vs. quicker sequels that offer half of what RDR2 offered, I‘ll gladly pick waiting a decade.

RDR2 was so insane it blew my mind. The other place is full of people going „good, RDR2 could‘ve easily done with half of the map and 20h less story content“... what the fuck??? You get an insane masterpiece and you just shrug it off, absolutely insane.

The quality and size of these games is special in the industry. Take away from that and R* games will be closer to the average AAA games on the market.
 
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sinnergy

Member
Sounds good ! And expand the world in months years , so people have something to look forward too.

Win/win less crunch and anticipation from gamers
 

killatopak

Member
My interest in Rockstar games lives and dies by their SP content.

If this means they’re focusing on MP and doing smaller SP stuff then consider me disinterested.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
I remember many of us panicking about the state of sp in RDR2. Let's wait and see for the official announcement.
 
These games are getting so huge that even a couple hundred people studio cannot pump them out more than once a gen.

This gen had RDR2. and that's it.
Deal with it.
 

Airbus Jr

Banned
GTA6 need to be outside America

Time for a change

Fictional Cuba, Havana, Mexico or something like that would be nice
 
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