Video games are undoubtedly one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the current era. Generation Z and younger Millennials, on average spend more time playing digital games than watching television, and that means it’s a huge market share of the modern day.
As of December 2023, Grand Theft Auto V is the second best-selling video game of all time. Debuting in 1997, this controversial video game series has captivated the world of gaming and concerned parents and politicians the world over.
Published by Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto—as the name implies—is a series of video games revolving around the life and actions of criminal protagonists. Players take the role of several different genres and subtypes of the criminal underworld, along the way committing countless violations of the law.
Grand Theft Auto also tries to be a complete satire in every regard of American culture, highlighting the immorality and stupidity that thrives in our modern world.
It has now been over ten years since the release of Grand Theft Auto V, and for every single one of those years, players have been begging the question, “When’s the next one coming out?”
The wait, for some, has been agonizing and way past overdue. Through the past decade, reporters and leaked information have given players some hope for a follow-up, but no concrete proof from Rockstar Games has ever been produced.
That is until Sept. 18, 2022, when leaked footage from Rockstar’s next game was released onto the internet. Following a breach of Rockstar’s Slack communication groups, nearly an hour of game development was viewed by millions online.
Rockstar was not happy. However, there was a brighter side to the data breach—that being that thousands of fans of the series had their faith in a newer installment rekindled.
Fast-forward nearly a year, earlier this November, Rockstar Games announced that they would be officially releasing a trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI on Dec. 5. The hype was indescribably massive, with tens of thousands of people online discussing and speculating as to the details of this next release.
Unfortunately, once again, a leaker revealed the trailer a day early to the masses. Rockstar Games, understandably furious, decided to bite the bullet and release the trailer the same day as the leak to counter the thief’s lame attempt for attention.
The trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI was a massive hit. Breaking the record for most views in one day for a non-music video on YouTube, millions upon millions tuned in to quench their decade-long thirst for a new installment.
Grand Theft Auto VI takes place in Vice City, an ironic twist on Miami, Florida, parodied to the max. Following a dual-narrative love story between two modern outlaws, Grand Theft Auto VI will also be the first game in the series to feature a female protagonist since 2000.
Albeit slightly confusing in its naming, Grand Theft Auto VI will be the eighth main installment in Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto series. Grand Theft Auto VI is planned to come out on Xbox and Playstation systems in 2025.