Grand Theft Auto 6 is in ‘active development,’ Rockstar confirms

Rockstar Games confirmed Friday that it is currently developing the next instalment in the Grand Theft Auto series, which is presumably titled Grand Theft Auto 6 but has not yet been officially announced. The company also stated that active development on its next-generation open-world crime spree game is “well underway.”

In a community update on all things GTA, including Grand Theft Auto 5, which was initially published in 2013, and the venerable GTA Online, the announcement of the upcoming GTA game was stashed away in plain sight.

According to Rockstar, the following is what they had to say regarding the forthcoming Grand Theft Auto game:

“Because of the exceptional lifespan of Grand Theft Auto V, we know that many of you have been asking us about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.“ When we begin on a new project, our objective is always to considerably improve on what we have previously provided — and we are thrilled to announce that active production for the next instalment in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway. We look forward to releasing additional information as soon as we are able, so please remain tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for any formal announcements.

“On behalf of our whole team, we would like to express our gratitude for your support and look forward to working with you in the future!”

Rockstar did not provide any further information about the upcoming instalment of the Grand Theft Auto brand – information on the game’s release date, platforms, setting, and gameplay mechanics will have to wait until the developer deems it appropriate to do so. However, with more than 155 million players in Grand Theft Auto 5 and an ever-expanding universe in Grand Theft Auto Online, the bar for Grand Theft Auto 6 is set high for the game.

When Grand Theft Auto 5 is re-released in upgraded form on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X systems next month, it will reach an even broader audience. GTA 5 will be released on the latest platforms from Sony and Microsoft on March 15, according to Rockstar. Graphics improvements include up to 4K resolution, up to 60 frames per second, texture and draw distance updates, HDR choices, and ray tracing on certain versions of GTA 5. In addition, on March 15, a standalone edition of Grand Theft Auto Online will be released, which will be available to PlayStation 5 gamers for free for the first three months.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Grand Theft Auto was the first game in the series, and it was published in 1997 for MS-DOS, PlayStation, and Windows PC. With Grand Theft Auto 3, a 3D open-world action-adventure game that was followed by two popular sequels, Rockstar rebooted its action-crime series after two previous entries and spinoffs. Grand Theft Auto 4 was released the next year in 2008.