Not many gaming franchises can announce a new game to the kind of revelry and fanfare we see with the Grand Theft Auto series. Don’t misunderstand, there is plenty of anticipation with a new Assassin’s Creed game on the way, and obviously, Call of Duty finally returning to its roots with WW2. Obviously, these are just a couple of prominent examples, and every successful franchise has hyped up fans who can’t stop thinking about their next game.
The fact of the matter is, however, Grand Theft Auto games are rare, and while plenty of other amazing franchises bring a new installment every year or two, we wait, like salivating dogs, for GTA games. For a few years, Rockstar’s flagship series was one of those things we were getting on a regular basis. Five console/PC games were released in six years back between 2001 and 2006, but since GTA IV Rockstar has backed off, producing two DLC’s for GTA IV, with three years between that game and GTA V. While GTA: Online is still going strong, and the fifth story mode has plenty of replay value, it is going to be four years old very soon (the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions came out in September 2013).
With this in mind, the online community has already started to ponder the eventuality that is Grand Theft Auto VI. While the game hasn’t technically been confirmed yet by anyone at Rockstar (the only people whose commentary on the future of the franchise matters), but we can be assured that it is on the way. Long time producer of Grand Theft Auto games, Leslie Benzies, said a few years ago that the Rockstar team had about 45 years worth of ideas, so we take that as confirmation that the game is not stopping at number five.
15 Female Protagonist
We mentioned this earlier, and there are people all over the internet who want to see a woman as a protagonist in the next game. Thus far, throughout the history of this franchise, women have either been dreadful antagonists (Catalina, for example), whiny, spoiled brats like Tracey De Santa, horrible, vindictive, cheating wives like Amanda De Santa, and “adult” mini games like Carl Johnson’s multiple girlfriends in San Andreas. In short, the feminists who cry and complain about these games have a point, they don’t portray women in a positive light. Still, no one in the world of Grand Theft Auto is protrayed in a positive light. Not really.
14 A Common Fear Among Fans…
While we’re plenty comfortable to just announce all the best things about GTA V over and over again, and there are plenty of reasons to love the game, there have been some significant and legitimate criticisms. One of them is the fact that there has been nothing in the way of single player DLC. Don’t get us wrong, GTA: Online is an incredible ongoing experience for more reasons than we care to list, but most people still wanted an expansion on the already amazing story mode. The focus on the online portion of the game has caused concern among fans that the next GTA game will be a completely online experience. This is a terrifying prospect, but we can’t see Rockstar doing something like that…okay…we should rephrase, we certainly hope it won’t come to that.
13 Release Year Confirmed?
This is another Easter egg that very well may mean absolutely nothing, but as a rumor or fan theory, it is interesting to consider. Many YouTubers have found these doors at Los Santos International Airport. There are several of them throughout the airport complex, and every door has one of two numbers on it. Some doors have the number 2013, while others have 2021. As we all know, 2013 is the year in which GTA V came out, and many of those who have found these doors think that the “2021” on many of these doors such as the one pictured above, is a little hint as to the likely release date. This kind of date may add to the evidence that the next GTA game will be only on next gen consoles.
12 Philadelphia/Independence City
As you’ll see, there are numerous theories about the setting of the next game. We get it, as most fans have complete faith in Rockstar’s choice to not mess with the basic formula of gameplay. There is virtually no chance of Rockstar deciding to mess with the general theme of open world mayhem, but they do have a great amount of choice when it comes to setting. Redditor fancymenofcornwood posted a series of pictures last year that showed a detailed map for a potential GTA game set in a fictionalized version of Philly. So far, the series (since the start of the 3D universe) has covered three areas, Liberty City (New York), Vice City (Miami) and of course, San Andreas/Los Santos (California/Los Angeles and the surrounding area). Adding a new city might be an interesting change of pace, and making the new city the birthplace of the United States would be an exciting twist.
11 Crooked Cop Protagonist
The history of protagonists in Grand Theft Auto includes numerous career criminals, gang members, a soldier-turned-criminal, and of course, an entrepreneurial, meth cooking lunatic. In the past few years, many in the online community have suggested that a future Grand Theft Auto player-character being a crooked cop would make for an awesome twist. Redditor Cannedstrawberries is one who thinks this would be a good idea, and like others, said that a crooked cop player could work for an organized crime syndicate when not on the job. This could be a man or woman (as there is also the theory that a future protagonist may be a woman), and could be either the lone player character or one among a team, if they stick with a trio like GTA V.
10 Outside The US Of A?
There are a couple of different theories as to whether GTA will ever leave the United States again. Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser told The Guardian several years ago that:
“[GTA London] was cool for the time, but games were more limited then. These days I think we would love to set a game in the UK, set in London, whatever, but I don’t know if it would be a GTA game. I think there are plenty of great stories we could tell about the UK, great environments to showcase, great gameplay mechanics that could have a UK bent to them – I just don’t think it would be a GTA necessarily.”
This seems like a pretty emphatic “no” with regard to a London setting, but YouTuber ShuffleGamer found what looks like a black drawing of the London skyline (pictured above) that he thinks may be an Easter egg pointing to a future game set in that city. There are a few other cities that have “Easter eggs” in GTA V. There was a rumor about a potential GTA game in Tokyo, but again, we don’t see it happening.
9 No Online Or PC Delays This Time?
This kind of topic isn’t quite as interesting as ideas for location, time period and character dynamic, but it is important to talk about and plenty of fans have weighed in on these topics over the past couple of years. Plenty of people think that Rockstar will do everything they can to ensure that the PC release and console release is either simultaneous or at least doesn’t involve a year and a half waiting period. Furthermore, many hope that the online component to the game won’t be as much of a mess as GTA: Online was. It showed up two weeks after the release of the actual game and was a nightmare of bugs. Rockstar is a reputable studio, they tried some new stuff for GTA V, but most fans are banking on them learning from past mistakes that pissed off loyal players.
8 An Infamous Resumé
In late July 2017, a CV with the name Tim Neff made its rounds on the world wide web. Tim Neff is an actor and does motion capture work primarily. The document that got leaked said that he was working on both Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto VI, but according to Tim and the people who represent him, he has no involvement with either project. In short, this seemed to show that the game was at least in development. While everyone involved denied the authenticity of the “leak,” there are plenty of people (possibly wearing tinfoil hats) who think the entire phony leak was a publicity stunt staged by Rockstar and Neff’s management. Highly unlikely, but interesting to ponder if Rockstar is playing us all.
7 Washington DC/Capital City
Five years ago, before the release of GTA V, there was a rumor that the game would be set in a GTA version of Washington DC. Obviously, that didn’t pan out, but there are still people claiming that there is potential for this city as the backdrop for GTA VI. The Washington DC Reddit page actually touched on the rumor, and there is plenty of promise in such an idea. Such a game would likely be highly political and rather than small time criminal activity punctuated with bank heists, there could be political assassinations and other large scale underground operations on a level we haven’t seen in the series before. Between Baltimore, DC, along with the relative proximity of New Jersey and Philadelphia, we could see a focus on these four cities if Rockstar wanted to cover several parts of the Northeast. “Capital City” has been mentioned in at least one GTA game and while some fans think it refers to Albany, NY, most will say it’s D.C.
6 Which Decade?
The most recent two GTA games have taken place during the exact time in which they were released. GTA IV in 2008, and GTA V in 2013. Other games, we all know, have been set in different time periods. The two Vice City games both took place in the 1980s, San Andreas and Liberty City Stories took place in the early and late 1990s respectively. YouTuber ZacCoxTV has pointed out that the GTA: London games covered the 1960s and other Rockstar titles Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire cover 1911 and the late 1940s. In terms of time periods that have not been covered and could be visited by a GTA title, this makes a trip to the groovy 70s seem like a possibility. We’d wager on this not being the case, because going with current games has worked phenomenally, but a 1970s themed adventure sounds like a good time as well.
5 North Yankton
While we’d like to get amped up and excited about this one, it looks like this may well be an Easter egg that means next to nothing but is kind of cool. There is a spot in the Grand Theft Auto version of the United States that we have seen, but haven’t spent a great deal of time in, and that is North Yankton. There is a mod that can take you to this place, but beyond that, we haven’t had much experience there. North Yankton is based on the Midwestern states, and as far as we can tell, it looks like it may be directly based on Wisconsin, Minnesota or the Dakotas. Along with this post card, there are plane tickets in Michael’s house that some fans think may be to North Yankton.
4 Who Remembers Carcer City?
We already mentioned YouTuber ZacCoxTV when discussing the theory that there may be a 1970s title coming up, but he has another interesting theory for a potential setting for a future GTA game. If you played the Manhunt games, you know what Carcer City is all about. It’s an urban wasteland based on formerly prosperous cities such as Detroit, Flint, Camden, and East St Louis. It’s a dark, nasty place and this YouTuber seems to think this could be the future site of a game. While the city has not appeared in a GTA title before, it does exist, and is mentioned by NPC’s and on radio programs in GTA III. If there ever was a game in this series that took the trip to a city in the Rust Belt, Carcer City would be the ideal locale. We consider this one unlikely, but if we get the chance to visit this nightmarish, rundown hellhole again, we’ll take it with enthusiastic and menacing smiles on our faces. Just imagine James Earl Cash making a GTA cameo.
3 A Return to Vice City
There is one major reason for which the sixth game should be in Vice City, and that is the fond memories we all have of the first Vice City, which many fans recall as their favorite game in this franchise, and it remains the one city we haven’t seen in the HD universe. For previous games in the series, there have been Easter eggs hinting at future game locations. A billboard that reads “See You In Miami” can be seen in GTA III, hinting at Vice City’s location. GTA IV did something similar but obviously, foreshadowing number five, with Los Santos.
If you go to any area on the beach in GTA V, you can see towels that read “I Heart VC.” Is it solid evidence that the next game will be back in Florida? Not at all. But at the same time, there is plenty of reason for another trip to Vice, and we’d love to play that part of the country again.
2 What Happened To San Fierro And Las Venturas?
So everyone and their neighbor loves Vice City. It is one of the best received games in this series, and between the awesome gameplay, the Scarface story inspiration, and of course, the greatest soundtrack ever featured in a video game (this isn’t an opinion, by the way, Vice City has unbelievable music), the game was mind-blowing. There is no question as to why people want to see the next game go back to this location. Obviously, San Andreas has been partially revisited by GTA V in Los Santos, but whatever happened to San Fierro (San Francisco) and Las Venturas (Vegas)? There are Easter eggs to suggest that both exist in the HD universe, so either one of these cities, which were not thoroughly explored in San Andreas, in which most of the important mission time took place in Los Santos, would make great choices for settings for the next game.
1 What About An Absurdly Large Map?
A couple of years ago, something very intriguing happened in the world of gaming. Ubisoft and Ivory Tower came up with a game that basically featured an open world style map of the entire United States. Obviously, theirs had limited detail, nothing in the way of NPC activity (which wasn’t needed as it was a racing game), and had it’s own set of issues, but this development has led many fans to speculate that something similar can be done with the next Grand Theft Auto game. The Crew’s map took over an hour to drive all the way across, and showcased numerous major cities. While it would take an obscene amount of work to make a world this big work with the kind of detail required for a GTA game, we won’t rule it out because it sounds incredible.
