Grand Theft Auto 6 might be a PS5 and Xbox Series X/S console exclusive and leave last-gen devices behind, according to the information provided in various leaks surrounding the title. GTA 6 is a hugely anticipated title, with the last entry, GTA 5 originally released a decade ago on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Although GTA 5 has received two re-releases on consoles since then to bring it to the PS4 and Xbox One generation, and now the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S’, fans are beginning to look to the future to see what the next entry in the 26 year-old-franchise has in store.
Currently, there has been very little official word on GTA 6 from developer Rockstar, and fans have had to turn to information from various leaks and insiders to get an idea of what the studio’s return to Vice City has in store. Over the last year, in particular, these leaked GTA 6 videos and screenshots have increased and official confirmation from Rockstar even validated some of them. Therefore, despite any official trailers, players are beginning to build up a solid idea of the upcoming title’s protagonists, location, and various gameplay systems, and just how much bigger it will be than its predecessors.
GTA 6’s Will Likely Be A PS5 & Xbox Series X/S Console Exclusive
According to reliable GTA leaker Chris Klippel on Twitter, Rockstar is developing GTA 6 on its new RAGE engine, which is reported to be far more powerful than the current RAGE engine that powers GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, and their online modes. Given how the more recent of these titles, Red Dead Redemption 2, offered an incredible amount of detail on its PS4 and Xbox One versions back in 2018 but was extremely demanding, particularly on the original launch versions of these consoles, it’s highly unlikely that even the upgraded versions such as the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X will be able to run the newest GTA title.
Major leaks surrounding the title last year introduced players to GTA 6‘s dual protagonists Lucia and Jason, as well as the series’ return to Vice City in a present-day setting, and were confirmed to be real by Rockstar. A collection of over 90 GTA 6 gameplay videos showed that the title was still very much a work in progress but did reveal that the upcoming title would have more detailed interiors and more NPCs with a more advanced range of player interactions in a hostage sequence taking place in a diner. The leaks also showed a larger map in GTA 6 than GTA 5‘s, and that the title is expected to have more dynamic weather systems in place, expanding upon those seen in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Current-Gen Exclusives Will Be More Common By GTA 6’s Release Date
Since the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S launch in 2020, major titles such as God of War Ragnarök or Horizon Forbidden West have been released on both the previous and current generation of consoles. While this was seen as a consumer-friendly move due to the difficulty players were having in procuring a current-gen device in the immediate years that followed, there have been complaints from developers – particularly around the time Gotham Knights‘ last-gen release was canceled – that catering to lower-spec hardware was holding back newer titles from reaching their full potential, despite almost universal praise for some cross-gen titles such as God of War Ragnarök showing that they can still be incredibly enjoyable experiences across both generations.
2023 sees a major shift in current-gen console support, with the consoles now being far easier to acquire, and Sony ran a recent news broadcast-esque marketing campaign featuring PlayStation exclusives to alert fans to this. There seems to be a push from developers to release solely on new-gen in the near future too, with major upcoming titles such as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 or Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth releasing exclusively on the PS5 towards the end of the year.
A recent leak claimed that Rockstar would be targeting a holiday 2024 release for GTA 6 and that the studio has resorted to cutting out entire portions of the game – which will later be released as DLC – in order to meet the targeted release window for the main title. If these leaks do turn out to be true and Rockstar meets its late 2024 release target, it’s likely that players will have seen the releases of more current-gen exclusive titles by then, so the lack of a PS4 and Xbox One release will be less surprising.
Rockstar Has Already Had To Leave A Console Generation Behind In GTA Online
When GTA 5‘s Expanded & Enhanced re-release launched on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2022, it promised features expected of new-gen titles such as improved resolution and higher frame rates. It also included exclusive vehicles, customization, and races to entice players to buy the near-decade-old game on its third console generation. While the lack of certain vehicles and races may have been disappointing for last-gen players on the PS4 and PS5, there was still the feeling that they weren’t missing out on too much. As time went on, fans wondered if Rockstar would move away from last-gen with its future updates and focus on its new-gen version in the same way other titles such as the aforementioned Horizon Forbidden West has with its Burning Shores DLC.
Rockstar had previously had to leave a console generation in the past with its original PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of GTA Online when it moved to PS4 and Xbox One and stopped providing updates for the previous versions, making the fan concerns that they would do the same after the PS5 and Xbox Series S/X re-release valid. Fortunately, this isn’t the case with GTA Online‘s major mission additions for now. For example, the recent Los Santos Drug Wars arc has been made available to all GTA Online players on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. However, it seems inevitable that if GTA 6 has a new GTA Online 2 of sorts, that Rockstar’s attention will begin to shift to these future iterations of the game at some point.
With the information provided by leaks surrounding GTA 6, particularly the ones confirmed to be real by the studio, it would be more surprising if Rockstar did release the title on previous-gen consoles, as the game simply appears to be too powerful to run on the base versions of the PS4 and Xbox One, and may even be too stressful for the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. Of course, fans are still awaiting official news from Rockstar surrounding Grand Theft Auto 6 to confirm whether this will be the case. If the studio is actually targeting a 2024 release date, it’s likely that official reveals and a marketing campaign from the studio will begin over the next year.
Sources: Chris Klippel/Twitter, PlayStation/YouTube
