Well, that was fun while it lasted. Earlier this week, GTA Online players managed to convince themselves that a sixth instalment in Rockstar’s premiere sandbox of crime was on the way. According to reports, players got their hands on an in-game pop-up that announced GTA 6 for 2019. Yeah, that ain’t happening, as it was the work of some savvy mods within GTA Online.
Considering Red Dead Redemption 2 is still in the making and that GTA Online is still being updated on a monthly basis, it would’ve been really hard to believe that the software house was already doing something on GTA 6 (or at least this early).
Despite persistent messages occurring for some players in Grand Theft Auto Online, Grant Theft Auto 6 has not been officially announced for a 2019 release.
If you’ve played GTA Online over the past week, you may have noticed a peculiar message: “GTA VI Coming 2019.” If you’re wondering why the game industry isn’t exploding over the sudden revelation that the next Grand Theft Auto will be out next year, it’s because there’s been no such announcement - the message going up in GTA Online is a hoax.
The impromptu announcement has only appeared in the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game, which happen to be way more open to playing online with hacked games. It seems this is exactly what’s happened here - a hacker’s figured out how Rockstar’s announcement system works, and managed to put out an intriguing message about the developer’s next game.
Open your world with the .
Slim as it is, there is a chance the message is real, but don’t take any bets on it unless you like some real long odds. Red Dead Redemption 2 is out this year, five years after GTA5’s original release. Unless Rockstar’s shrunk its development process down from a half-decade to a single year, the is probably a bit further off.
What is coming soon is a Red Dead sequel, and - yes, I’m going to harp on this again - it still hasn’t been announced for PC. Maybe that’s a good thing, though. If a PC version got similarly hacked, I’d have to write this story all over again for Red Dead 3, and nobody wants that.
Red Dead Redemption 2 won’t be out on PC on day one, but with or without a third platform it’s going to sell a hell of a lot of copies. Take a look at October’s release calendar, and you’ll find that other publishers are giving Rockstar’s cowboy epic a wide berth, with games as big as Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed scooting far earlier than normal.
Everyone’s a little scared of coming out too close to Red Dead, and Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says “We're running scared too. I think a healthy degree of paranoia and insecurity about releases is probably a good thing. I'm fond of saying that arrogance is the enemy of continued success.”
Someday Red Dead Redemption 2 will be on our list of . (Probably.)
October’s follows the impressive - by some metrics now considered the most profitable entertainment product of all time - so Take-Two has plenty of reason to be excited about the game the company’s about to publish. Still, GTA5 might present some overly lofty expectations.
“It's hard to expect anything to perform as well as the most profitable entertainment product of all time,” Zelnick tells GamesIndustry.biz. “I don't think that's a realistic expectation. Our hope, and also belief, is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be an extraordinary creative product and that it will do incredibly well. Beyond that I can't say - I don't think anyone can say. We have to release it and see what consumers think.”
Rockstar Games is extremely particular to their games. With Red Dead Redemption 2 releasing this year, we're pretty sure GTA VI isn't happening at least for the next few years.
Rockstar will once again expand the world of Grand Theft Auto Online next month with the launch of another new update - Los Santos: Nightclubs. Due at some point in July, the free expansion will let you open and manage your own nightclub, customise its setup, look, staff and promotion, and fill it with real-life music acts Solomun, Tale Of Us, Dixon and The Black Madonna. Here's a teaser:
Perhaps having taken note of every other online retailer offering big batches of discounts on PC games in waves recently, Amazon has decided to get in on the action with a couple of one-day-only sale ranges on digital PC titles from and . Over at Amazon UK's daily deals section, you'll find a range of alongside . These are all PC digital titles, most of which will redeem on Steam, though some of Rockstar's offerings are codes are for Rockstar's own Social Club. Grand Theft Auto 5 is down to one of its lowest prices ever, £13.20, while you can also find Mafia 3 for £14, Bully for £3.50, and the entire XCOM 2 collection for £40 all-in. Over on the Activision side of things, you'll be able to pick up Call of Duty WW2 for £28.99, Call of Duty Infinite Warfare for £19.49, King's Quest Complete for £15.99, and Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines for £3.49.
