The maker of the notorious Grand Theft Auto video game franchise announced Friday that a new edition is under development, confirming long-bubbling speculation.
The popular crime adventure game is already one of the most popular entertainment products out there. GTA 6 is likely to be huge.
New York-based Rockstar Games did not say when Grand Theft Auto 6 will hit the street or how it will be different from the previous edition of the game, released in 2013 to blockbuster sales.
"We're pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the series is underway," the studio said in an online post.
More than 230 million copies of Grand Theft Auto, referred to as GTA, have been sold overall.
An online, multiplayer version of the game boasts a large and devoted community of fans, some of whom took to Twitter to express delight at the news along with jibes that Rock star might not deliver the new game for years.
The move will mark the next installment in one of the best-selling game franchises of all time. The action-adventure game series dates back 25 years and is widely credited as being among the most influential works in the industry. Titles likes 2001's Grand Theft Auto III popularized the setting of a three-dimensional game world, where players can explore and do pretty much anything they want. GTA V, meanwhile, was so widely anticipated that it broke industry sales records, becoming the first entertainment product to hit $1 billion in sales within its first three days on the market.
Despite being nearly a decade old, GTA V is still one of the top-selling games each year. It's racked up more than 155 million copies sold, with more than $6 billion in worldwide revenue.
It's no surprise that GTA 6 is under development, but considering GTA V's longstanding popularity, it'll be a tough act to follow. While Rockstar and its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, have declined to share release date plans, some industry analysts believe the title will land as early as next year.
Bungie, the developer behind the Halo and Destiny franchises, on Monday signed a deal to be sold to Sony in a deal worth a reported $3.6 billion. This purchase is far smaller than the $12.7 billion Grand Theft Auto maker Take-Two Interactive is paying for FarmVille developer Zynga, or the $68.7 billion Microsoft is spending to buy World of Warcraft creator Activision Blizzard, but the PlayStation maker is getting its hands on one of the most celebrated game makers of all time.
Still, some analysts wonder if it's actually worthwhile or more of a FOMO-inspired feeding frenzy.Rockstar has finally confirmed what we all knew in our hearts: a new Grand Theft Auto is on the way. "We are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway," teased Rockstar in a new community update. That was it: no other details or dates. We know it's happening, then, but otherwise we're free to speculate on what GTA 6 could—perhaps should—be.
Where will GTA 6 be set? What era will it take place in? Will its online mode be good enough to support the millions of players it's sure to attract? We don't know, but we can sure tell you what we want.
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