Grand Theft Auto 5 is still an enormously popular game, continuing to sell enough to regularly make the all-format top ten (seriously, who doesn’t own a copy by now?) and GTA Online is also still a hugely beloved multiplayer title. Now, with Red Dead Redemption 2 also turning out to be a similarly successful hit, all eyes are on whatever Grand Theft Auto 6 will be.
As is typical for Rockstar, it’s been radio silence on the particulars of the next installment in the series. However, we now know that it’s officially in development, with a resume of a staff member listing him as working on the game. What’s more is that we’ve also heard repeated rumors that Sony is set to snap up Grand Theft Auto 6 as a timed exclusive to boost the launch of the PlayStation 5 in late 2020.
On the surface, this makes a good deal of sense. After all, what better way to launch a new console than with a title that any self-regarding gamer must play? Plus, the inevitable column inches generated by a new entry in the franchise will act as free marketing for the device.
That being said, you have to wonder whether it’s really necessary. After the PlayStation 4 was a huge hit and the runaway winner of the generation after the anemic Xbox One, does Sony really need to spend a presumably huge amount of money to secure this exclusive when it’s already in pole position? Then there’s the fact that it’s incredibly difficult developing any game in time for the launch of a new console, let alone one as complex as a new Grand Theft Auto title.
If Rockstar really has signed a deal like this, they’re putting an enormous amount of pressure on their workers to deliver the game to a deadline that can’t realistically be delayed. Still, stranger things have happened in the industry.
Who knows, perhaps the other outlandish rumor I’ve heard will come true and Sony will simply buy Rockstar outright and add them to their stable of first-party developers?
Published: Apr 19, 2019 02:47 pm