Rockstar Games has announced Grand Theft Auto VI ‘s launch is being delayed once again to November 19, 2026. That’s roughly a year from now. It was previously delayed from its 2025 launch window to May 26, 2026. And now again.
If you have the feeling it’s been a while since the last GTA game, you’d be right. GTA V was originally released in 2013 and has been re-released multiple times since then. In fact, it’s a rare game that’s spanned PS3, PS4 and PS5.
Rockstar is likely self-assured that the game will do fine. Grand Theft Auto Online, a multiplayer mode for GTA V that can also be downloaded as a standalone game, remains a hit.
“We continue to supply content to GTA Online, and in fact we’ve had terrific results there. And GTA+ continues to grow its membership. In fact, it’s had 20 percent growth year-over-year. And GTA V has sold more than 220 million units,” said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick in an interview with The Game Business.
The budget-friendly system is in early production.
Apple may debut a low-cost Mac laptop in the first half of 2026. According to a Bloomberg report, it’s in early production, and Apple is testing the devices internally. The idea may be to create a rival to cheap Chromebooks and Windows PCs, nudging folks into that money-spinning ecosystem. The company is said to be making the system with casual users, students and businesses in mind. (I’d guess many of those users are paying more for MacBooks with power they’ll never really tap into.)
The report suggests it’ll have a “lower-end LCD display,” and it’s expected to run on an A-series iPhone processor that would still, apparently, deliver better performance than the M1.
Everything you need to know about the Chinese company’s future in America.
DJI drones still face a potential US ban, due to national security concerns. It’s a combination of the company’s Chinese origins and laws compelling cooperation with state intelligence services. It’s also a very visible, notable drone maker — and flying robots understandably make folks nervous. After losing a recent lawsuit and an appeal, DJI is nearing a key December 23, 2025, deadline under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which could trigger an automatic ban. A recent FCC vote and pending legislation could also block sales and even theoretically prevent people from using already-purchased drones by cutting off radio access.
DJI might have to hope a ban will create enough customer outcry to stimulate a political response in its favor.
Honda revealed its new hybrid car tech, and it’s lighter, faster and… actually fun. That’s accomplished by massive weight savings and a surprising S+ Shift mode, which simulates an eight-speed transmission for manual driving fans. We got a first look at the platform that will transform the next-gen Civic and Prelude, officially, hopefully marking the end of the slow, droning hybrid car.
While many gamers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Grand Theft Auto 6, there’s still a ton of activity around the current iteration of the mega-blockbuster franchise. Fans are still role-playing on private servers, goofing around in the game’s online mode, or — in the case of two filmmakers — staging a film adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. Grand Theft Hamlet is co-directed by the married couple Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane. The movie was shot entirely within Grand Theft AutoOnline during the global pandemic; it’s coming to select theaters in the United States and streaming globally.
The two directors of Grand Theft Hamlet were out-of-work actors playing GTA Online together during the lockdowns in the United Kingdom. After the usual amount of gunplay and antics, the two found a theatre in the game, and decided to stage a production of Shakespare’s Hamlet inside the game. The inherent difficulty in such a task is that GTA Online is a sandbox full of murderous drug dealers flying invisible motorbikes and dropping orbital strikes. Coordinating these players is a mean feat, and in the effort to do so, we can learn more about the digital worlds we inhabit and what they are capable of.
The documentary asks what is this space? How do we use it now and what else is possible inside it? Can we transport this ancient story inside a brand new one? And will it still make sense? The cinematic potential of Los Santos is immediately apparent, with its glittering, mind-blowingly detailed cityscape and surrounding countryside, the ray-traced rendering of light, ever-changing weather systems and intricate sound design. By using the in-game phone camera we were able to get intimate close ups and cinematic pans across landscapes – enabling a more cinematic visual language and moments of pathos, emotion and lyricism to exist within the chaos and violence of this undiscovered country.
There have been other notable collisions between the traditional world of theater and online gaming, such as the Wasteland Theatre Company and their plays conducted within Fallout 76. It’s always interesting to see how players find new angles and ways to interpret the world of GTA Online, or any online space, to tell their own stories.
New data from the FBI shows that violent crime fell significantly in 2023, but motor vehicle thefts soared for the second year in a row. Motor vehicle theft increased by more than 12.5%, the highest rate recorded since 2007. Former FBI special agent Daniel Brunner joins CBS News to examine what’s driving the uptick.
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Sometimes we come across news that makes it seem is if there are real life “Grand Theft Auto” characters walking among us. Take the lead singer of an LA punk band who made his way to the other wise peaceful region of Yosemite National Park and allegedly spent the day tearing shit up in a very un-punk way.
Clean A Demon’s Sex Toys In This Punk Slice-Of-Life Game
The LA Timesreports that Anthony Mehlhaff — lead singer of a punk band called Cancer Christ — may have turned into a real life Trevor from GTA V on August 21. According to local authorities, Mehlhaff began his Yosemite visit by harassing a pregnant waitress at a restaurant. It only got wilder from there, according to the Times:
The front man for a hardcore Los Angeles punk band named Cancer Christ faces a slate of criminal charges after allegedly going on a “terrorizing trek” through Yosemite National Park and surrounding areas Wednesday, according to local law enforcement.
Anthony Mehlhaff, 40, allegedly assaulted a restaurant employee, led park rangers on a car chase, crashed the car, stole a bicycle and then threatened workers at another lodge with a knife, according to Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese.
Then, Mehlhaff allegedly stripped to his underwear, attempted to kidnap a store manager, stole that manager’s car and started ramming it into another vehicle on a local road, crashed again and was taken into custody before assaulting deputies during an assessment at a local hospital, Briese wrote in a statement about the incident.
“This man drove all around our county terrorizing our visitors and community members,” Briese said. “I am extremely happy that no one was seriously injured. This man’s behavior was erratic and dangerous.”
Mariposa County Sheriffs arrested Mehlhaff and charged him with everything from vehicle theft and robbery to kidnapping. He’s being held on $100,000 bail. According to the Times, in social media posts Mehlhaff refers to himself as “Saint Anthony” while he and his band seem to think of themselves as a religion and their fans, “congregants.” This description of the band’s music from its own website honestly explains a lot:
“Spreading the gospel through their unique brand of Reptilian Power Violence, Saint Anthony and The Snake People have been sent down from Heaven on a holy mission to make all politicians, pedophiles, and police officers suffer slowly,” the band’s website read.
While that is all well and good, real punk rockers rage against the system. They don’t terrorize innocent people just going about their days. Seems Mehlhaff has a lot to learn.
This story originally appeared on Jalopnik, our sister site, on Monday, August 26.
Classic titles may get a lot of flack, but their designs were second to none, so we’ve decided to rank them! These posters highlight some of the best classic titles out there – along with some beautifully recreated and original illustrations.
For the sake of transparency, ‘retro’ has been defined here as anything that was released before the eighth console generation. So, before the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch’s release.
It might sound scary, but some of your favorite titles might be just considered ‘old-school’!
Image Source: 2K
Image Source: 2K
Image Source: 2K
The success of the Borderlands series is reason enough to pick up a copy of any of its titles. However, the consistently awe-inspiring key art used in its box cover and promotional marketing is a very close second.
Borderlands‘ success has rested on the amazing gunplay, witty dialogue, and excellent character designs of its cast of heroes (and villains!)
As such, it makes sense that if posters were to be made to symbolize the whole series, then who better to place front and center than a Psycho. The Psycho enemy has become the face of the series in some respects – having appeared on almost all the games’ cover art in one way or another.
Using the iconic, provocative imagery from the games’ cover art for the title, marketing for all of 2K’s Borderlands has received heavy backlash. However, the visually striking use of color and instantly recognizable design of the series has since become synonymous with the franchise.
Image Source: Sega
Image Source: Sega
Image Source: Sega
Releasing in arcades in 1994, and being ported to Sega’s own Saturn system in 1995, Virtua Fighter and its much-beloved sequel were a graphical tour de force.
Hailing from a time when titles couldn’t hide with flashy, pre-rendered cinematics, these titles laid everything bare. Sega was sure that the visuals it had to deliver were of that high a standard.
Posters like this one by AudricDemers project that same self-confidence, consisting of minimal background design and characters in action poses. Simple, effective, and impressive.
As one Reddit user fondly remembers;
‘The graphics were god-tier at the time that I could just sit there at the arcade and watch the demo for hours on end’
The Metal Slug series is renowned for crazy arcade action, and sleek and beautiful pixel-art sprite work. Wow, that’s a lot to fit onto a poster!
As such, the best posters of the Metal Slug franchise choose to encapsulate all of these aspects in a single image. For example, this one which uses the cover art for Metal Slug X.
The series’ hyper-stylized designs, along with the eponymous tank, are depicted in loving detail. Redbubble designer Mysteriosshop has arranged the game’s artwork and produced a highly collectible poster.
Image Source: SEGA
Image Source: SEGA
Image Source: SEGA
Sonic the Hedgehog is a beloved video game character; running beyond his games to television shows, highly-successful movies, and merchandising since his original title. However, he has gone through many design alterations since his 1991 game debut.
Sega landed on a classic look recently that has pleased old and new fans alike. While the lanky-legged, smart-talking design of ‘modern’ Sonic still exists, this ‘classic’ design has curried favor with many long-time fans.
Referencing Sonic the Hedgehog’s blazing speed and classic 90s design, posters like this minimal yet explosive artwork will surely please Sonic fans from any stage of the blue blur’s gaming career.
Image Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Image Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Image Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment
While it seems like we were waiting for years for a return to form for Crash Bandicoot, the recent resurgence in Crash Bandicoot’s popularity can be seen with the release of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.
Regardless if it’s playing the original titles or the newest in the series, it feels good to be back in control of everyone’s favorite orange video game mammal (sorry, Daxter!)
This modern interpretation of the classic cover art for the PS1 title Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back showcases the classic title, while embracing the aesthetic of the newer art style. As such, you can enjoy it on posters and other themed merchandise.
Perhaps that is why it’s so endearing. The seamless blending of the original title with one which a new generation of fans has become familiar with. This is especially potent considering the continued success of the series’ recent remasters.
After the success of the North American box art for Grand Theft Auto III after an impromptu last-minute change, Rockstar consolidated their key art under one style. They proceeded to use Bliss’ stylings as cover art, loading scenes, and promotional work for the title from that point on.
Posters like this stylish one from mattilynn succeeds on the merit that it places Bliss’ artwork front and center.
Image Source: Nintendo
Image Source: Nintendo
Image Source: Nintendo
If there’s one thing The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is, it’s unusual. Its dark tone and unnerving visuals confounded gamers at the time, alongside Nintendo’s macabre twist of the Zelda formula.
This poster by orioto continues this trend by emphasizing the darkness of the setting along with the scale of the game’s moon. The starlight and falling meteors in the background of the poster also highlight the shadows of the clock tower and surrounding mountains.
As such, the scale of the task given to you in Majora’s Mask is made apparent. Beyond that, the repercussions if you don’t succeed are put into perspective.
The title has been included on the company’s Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass service. As a result, more people are playing classic Zelda titles than ever. Whether you’re new to the perils of Termina or have saved the world time and time again, this illustrated poster is sure to delight you.
Image Source: Atari
Image Source: Atari
Image Source: Atari
Centipede is a game that needs no introduction. Published by Atari in 1981, the arcade title is one of the formative titles for the entire video game industry.
Even 40 years ago, the appeal for this title was obvious. Many marketing and promotional works were commissioned to broadcast this latest Atari title. As a result, many gamers were inducted into spending as much as they could in the arcades.
Posters like this retro metal decoration highlight the original arcade cabinet’s aesthetic through its presentation of the illustrated centipede design.
It could be argued that George Opperman alone could be credited with the centipede design. However, as stated in Video Games magazine, June of 1983: ‘It is his responsibility, along with a 12-person staff, to create and produce all artwork for Atari’s arcade games’.
The poster design has had such a lasting impact that American rock band The Strokes incorporated it well beyond its 1981 release. In 2003, they released their hit song ‘Reptilia’ – which has a familiar insect emblazoned on its single artwork.
Image Source: Nintendo
Image Source: Nintendo
Image Source: Nintendo
When decorating a room with videogame paraphernalia, you only want to represent the best of the best.
As such, it’s no surprise that a stylish poster of Super Mario Bros. 3 is no doubt high on your list. One of the best Mario games of all time, even 36 years after its original release, Super Mario Bros. 3 revolutionized the series in the eighties.
From all-new power-ups, a connected series of levels on a world map, and incredible graphical power for the Nintendo Entertainment System – Super Mario Bros. 3 amazed.
In 1988 players all around the world thought that game developers had maximized the potential of what the NES hardware. Then Super Mario Bros. 3 released.
Matthew Carmosino & Nicholas Limon, ‘The Best Super Mario Bros. Games: All 20 Ranked’
Who wouldn’t want a poster of the platforming plumber after all that? Luckily, the cover art for Super Mario Bros. is as simple and stylish as it was back in 1988.
With that in mind, many still hold a special Pokemon-shaped place in their heart for the original titles and Nintendo is very aware of this.
The original Pokemon creature designs are referenced and revered in almost every aspect of Pokemon media – ensuring that every Pokemon fan knows them all by name!
As such, this Pokemon poster is an excellent decision for those who love the original 151 pocket monsters or are just fans of the series overall. Featuring artwork from the series’ original artist Ken Sugimori, this Kanto-based poster is a league above the rest.
Image Source: Microsoft
Image Source: Microsoft
Image Source: Microsoft
When excited gamers in 2007 picked up their copies of Microsoft’s latest installment in the Halo franchise, they were met with a beloved added extra.
The much-appreciated miniature poster, featuring artwork from artist Ashley Wood, was bundled into all early copies of the title – with the controller layout on the reverse side. Posting on his blog on September 25, the day of Halo 3’s release, he proclaimed: ‘I was lucky to be part of the legend in a very small way’.
This piece, while small, has continued to be adored by fans new and old. So much so that it was celebrated with a limited print-run of the artwork being recreated through Displate, last year.
Redbubble user pharaoh618, has elegantly formatted Wood’s original piece and has made it more readily available through this poster.
Image Source: Bethesda Softworks
Image Source: Bethesda Softworks
Image Source: Bethesda Softworks
Incorporated into the title’s promotional work and even used as the game’s box art, Doom is a classic retro poster design if there ever was one.
Designed by the prolific science fiction and contemporary artist Don Ivan Punchatz, his mastery of the craft is generally acknowledged even by those outside of the video game industry.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is the memorable sequel to the much-beloved original Metal Gear Solid title on the PlayStation 1. Where Sons of Liberty diverges from the original is in its controversial sidelining of the first game’s protagonist in place of the new character, Raiden.
Many fans have since come around to Raiden’s inclusion and the superb quality of Sons of Liberty as a sequel. As such, we have been able to appreciate posters like this one.
The minimalist poster – arranged by PFCpatrickC – features the original artwork for the title from series illustrator Yoji Shinkawa.
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Xbox & Playstation Source: Future Publishing / Getty
After decades of console wars, Xbox will allegedly concede and bring its exclusives to Sony’s Playstation 5 platform.
For decades we’ve been entertained by the console wars mainly between Sony and Microsoft. In the early days of Xbox 360, it seemed Microsoft couldn’t be touched. However, after the successful launches of the PlayStation 3, 4, and 5 Sony reigned supreme while Xbox tried to keep up. When the PlayStation 5 launched it was clear to everyone paying attention it was the superior console. According to Forbes, Microsoft will allegedly begin letting their once coveted exclusive release on Sony’s PlayStation platform.
While this has yet to be officially announced an announcement could come as early as next week reports The Verge.
This would mark the waving of the white flag by Microsoft unless Playstation gives over their exclusives which isn’t likely. When Microsoft purchased gaming company Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion they promised they would play nice with Sony as it pertained to Call of Duty. This update would certainly make good on that promise. Furthermore, speculation has pointed to Hi-Fi Rush, Starfield, and others coming to Playstation and Switch soon. As gaming and streaming continue to grow this will undoubtedly provide a significant boost to all the titles released on other platforms for the first time.
All eyes will be on Microsoft’s announcements next week as gamers pray Halo is included in the titles coming to PS5.
Arion Kurtaj’s joyride as a Grand Theft Auto (GTA) criminal appears to have crashed and burned.
The 18-year-old hacker from Oxfordshire, UK, played a crucial role in the Lapsus$ group — an international cybercrime syndicate that inflicted nearly $10 million in damages to several high-profile tech companies, including Uber, Nvidia, and Rockstar Games (the company that makes GTA), according to the BBC.
Kurtaj’s most infamous crime was breaching Rockstar while in police custody and releasing 90 clips of unreleased Grand Theft Auto 6 footage.
Despite being on bail for hacking Nvidia and having his laptop confiscated, Kurtaj still managed to break into Rockstar’s servers from a Travelodge motel, using an Amazon Firestick, the hotel TV, and a mobile phone.
He then broke into the company’s internal Slack with a warning, “If Rockstar does not contact me on Telegram within 24 hours, I will start releasing the source code.”
Kurtaj has severe autism and was reportedly quite violent in custody, injuring people and damaging property. The severity of his disorder led to the court’s decision to confine him to a secure medical facility indefinitely.
According to a mental health assessment, he “continued to express the intent to return to cyber-crime as soon as possible. He is highly motivated.”
In contrast, a 17-year-old Lapsus$ member, whose identity remains protected, was issued an 18-month Youth Rehabilitation Order. Both youths stand as the first convicted members of the Lapsus$ gang. Other suspects remain at large.
Kurtaj’s defense team argued that the success of the recently released GTA 6 trailer, with over 128 million views in just four days, signaled minimal harm to Rockstar Games.
But Judge Patricia Lees said extensive damage was done to the actual victims of the group’s numerous cyber attacks. In addition to Rockstar Games having to pay Lapsus$ $5 million to recover its data, other hacks by Lapsus$ involved threatening communications sent to thousands of cell phone customers and stealing money from cryptocurrency wallets.
“This case serves as an example of the dangers that young people can be drawn towards whilst online and the serious consequences it can have for someone’s broader future,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Amanda Horsburgh from the City of London Police.
Gaming’s biggest night has come and gone, and perhaps the biggest surprise of all was just how little time devs were given to thank their family, fans, and recently deceased colleagues during their acceptance speeches. But before that, we finally got our first in-depth look at Rockstar’s GTA 6, the most anticipated game in a decade. Here’s your cheat sheet to the week’s biggest news.
Rockstar Games has confirmed that, at least at launch, the company’s long-awaited open-world crime sim, Grand Theft Auto VI, will launch on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 only, with no mention of a PC version. – Zack Zwiezen Read More
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is often heralded as one of the best adventure games of the past 25 years. With the nefarious Ganon once again scheming to conquer the land, it’s up to Link to traverse through time, space, and yet another aggravating water temple to save the Kingdom of Hyrule. While the epic for the N64 is celebrating a major birthday this year, inspiring tribute mash-up videos and social media celebrations, another classic Zelda title is quietly celebrating a major milestone of its own. – Jen Glennon Read More
The Day Before kicked off 2023 as one of the most wishlisted games on Steam. Now, after endless controversies, the self-proclaimed open-world survival-horror MMO styled after The Last of Us is finally in Steam Early Access, and it’s getting panned. The first players to lay hands on the much-hyped zombie shooter are sharing footage of game-breaking glitches and leaving thousands of negative reviews. – Ethan Gach Read More
Overwatch 2 season eight begins today, December 5, but Blizzard showed off its new skins, events, and latest tank hero, Mauga, before kick-off. And the sentiment from players about the skins for season eight has been mixed—Baptiste’s formal wear is a standout, but it’s sandwiched between some real stinkers and an unremarkable Mythic Skin. But one cosmetic has stood out for all the wrong reasons: Mercy’s Year of the Dragon event skin. – Kenneth Shepard Read More
2023’s The Game Awards just wrapped. Did you watch it? Well, no worries if you missed it (or had something better to do) as we’ve rounded up every major game trailer and world premiere you could want to watch in a single sitting. So if you’re looking to check out a new trailer or catch up on all the games that were announced this year, you’re in the right place. – Claire Jackson Read More
A seven-second TikTok reverberated across the internet over the weekend, after it claimed to show the “first look” at in-game footage of a city in Grand Theft Auto VI, the open-world blockbuster whose official trailer is just a day away. Frantic speculation about whether the footage was real or not ensued, including unverified rumors that the leak involved a Rockstar Games developer’s own kid. – Ethan Gach Read More
While Sony acquired Destiny 2 maker Bungie for $3.6 billion in 2022, it repeatedly claimed the creator of Halo and other hits would remain an “independent subsidiary.” Now IGN reports that if Bungie’s sci-fi MMO keeps failing revenue targets, Sony could dissolve its existing board of directors and take full control of the roughly 1,100 person studio. – Ethan Gach Read More
After a long and tumultuous road, Cyberpunk 2077 appears to be getting its final major update today. The sprawling patch includes a new ridable metro system and more romance options, as well as a host of other tweaks, changes, and additions. Unless it ends up breaking something big in the game, consider patch 2.1 Night City’s last overhaul until Cyberpunk 2 arrives a decade or so from now. – Ethan Gach Read More
Grand Theft Auto reveals are arguably among the biggest cultural events in all of gaming. It was no surprise, then, that hype for GTA VI blew through the roof as thousands of people patiently stared at a black screen, waiting for the official trailer to release. However, after someone leaked the trailer on Twitter, Rockstar made the decision to publish it early, which left livestreamers scrambling to Go Live as soon as possible to provide their reactions. Unfortunately, at least some of those reactions were hit with copyright strikes.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Comments: A Dramatic Reading
According toIGN, content creators reacting to the GTA VI video ran into some trouble. Streams across TikTok were muted, possibly because the trailer makes use of Tom Petty’s “Love Is a Long Road.” The song is copyrighted, after all, and most platforms have restrictions on copyrighted materials. Meanwhile, some streams on other platforms were taken down entirely. In the video below, for instance, YouTuber TheProfessional details how his reaction video was hit with copyright strikes. Thankfully, after some time passed, most content was brought back.
TheProfessional
It’s hard to specify how widespread the issue was given that it was temporary, but the strikes point to the chaotic flurry surrounding the trailer’s release. GTA VI has been in development for many years now, with copious leaks providing tons of information on the highly anticipated crime simulator. We’ve learned that the game will take place in Vice City and really bring theFlorida energy, and will feature two protagonists in a Bonnie and Clyde kind of relationship. Kotaku readers also shared their many wants from the next Grand Theft Auto, and we’ve learned that it will skip PC when it launches sometime in 2025.
Forget Marvel, Star Wars, Harry Potter or James Bond. None of the next installments of these popular franchises will likely hold a candle to the anticipation of a new Grand Theft Auto sequel slated to land sometime in 2025.
The first trailer for GTA VI, in which gamers live out their fantasies as denizens of the criminal underworld, dropped on Tuesday after a leak on social media prompted publisher Rockstar Games to move forward with the planned December 5th reveal.
Not even a day later and the topic already dominates the trending list on YouTube, with over 7 million likes and counting. The 62 million views prompted a sore Linda Yaccarino—still in damage control mode following Elon Musk’s car crash interview—to plead with Rockstar to embed the trailer on X rather than direct her audience away and onto Google’s rival streaming platform.
The fascination around the game is partly because it’s been a full decade since its landmark predecessor landed. When GTA V launched in 2013, the game obliterated sales records, needing just three days to cross the $1 billion threshold.
It holds the record for the highest-grossing entertainment property of any kind—film, music or book—shipping 190 million units to date and still commands a price many years later between $20 and $30 depending on console generation.
“Grand Theft Auto VI continues our efforts to push the limits of what’s possible in highly immersive, story-driven open-world experiences,” promised Rockstar Games president Sam Houser in a statement, calling it the “biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet”.
Rockstar, founded by Houser and his brother Dan 25 years ago this month, revealed little of the story other than it appears to center on a Bonnie & Clyde pair of small-time criminals.
The scenery shifts from GTA V’s San Andreas, a microcosm of California, to the streets of Vice City, which served as neon-lit backdrop of the 2002 GTA installment by the same name. Given all the recent buzz around Miami as a new symbol of America’s wealth gap, Rockstar could hardly have picked a timelier setting for its protagonists’ fictional crime spree.
‘Dependent on the future success’
Like any trailer, it should whet the appetite for the game’s arrival sometime in the next 13 to 24 months (if the predecessor is anything to go by, expect a release in autumn just in time for the holiday shopping season).
But it is little indication about the quality of the finished product, and there are big questions surrounding the next installment.
Two of the most important figures credited with the franchise’s chart-topping success moved on after GTA V launched. Lead writer Dan Houser, the creative brain behind the franchise and Rockstar’s co-founder together with brother Sam, left in 2020.
Producer and game designer Leslie Benzies departed to found his own studio and is now working on a similar GTA-style game believed to incorporate blockchain elements from the crypto world.
Landing another hit is crucial for Rockstar and its parent company Take-Two Interactive Software. A decade ago when it launched the previous installment, consolidated annual revenue almost doubled.
“We are dependent on the future success of our Grand Theft Auto products,” Take-Two warned investors in its latest full fiscal year report.
Thanks to developers like Rockstar, CD Projekt Red and most recently Larian Studios, video games as a genre have long shed the stigma as a form of low art, becoming perhaps the major force in the entertainment industry.
“Research has shown that Gen Z and Gen Alpha prefer gaming to any other form of entertainment—more than social media, more than watching television or listening to music, more than going to the movie theatre,” said Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who himself landed a hit with this year’s Harry Potter-themed Hogwarts Legacy game.
On Thursday the industry is set to celebrate its equivalent of the Oscars, with titles like Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hot contenders for the top prize as Game of the Year.
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An intimate moment in GTA 6.Screenshot: Rockstar / Kotaku
Good news, everyone! Unless you’ve been living in a monastery, you’re likely aware that 2023 is the year that video games got horny again. And no, I don’t mean tastefully Hades frisky, I mean Leisure Suit Larry and Night Traplevels of unhinged lust, the likes of which “mainstream” gaming (whatever that means) hasn’t seen since the 1990s.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Comments: A Dramatic Reading
Baldur’s Gate 3just reinvented jiggle physics for a more civilized age. Final Fantasy XVI has tastefully toned cheeks on show in all manner of adult situations. That’s a big departure from a lot of movies and TV shows lately.
And thankfully, it appears this trend isn’t about to be over anytime soon. That’s because the Grand Theft Auto VI trailer is finally upon us. And reader, it is full of T & A. We’ve got a lady twerking on the roof of a car. We’ve got bikinis everywhere you look. We’ve got Make It Rain Mondays—confirmed.
Screenshot: Rockstar / Kotaku
Elsewhere in this 90-second trailer, we’ve got wiry old dudes watering the grass in speedos, hotties on yachts, and even what appears to be our protagonists about to get down to business. There’s even blink-and-you’ll-miss-‘em details like police billboards that read “Wanted for panty sniffing.”
Miami—the real-world inspiration for GTA’s Vice City—is a pretty sexy place in real life, despite being part of Florida. The Grand Theft Auto VI trailer would make Waylon Smithers cower in fear as bosoms and bottoms jiggle in every conceivable direction.
And honestly? That’s the way it should be. Sure, there might be some amusement park hijinks at some point during the game. (We are in Florida, after all.) But after a decade of waiting, it’s nice to see that GTA is still adults only. Granted, we’ve only seen a minute and a half of this game, and there’s an awful long way to go until 2025. But it’s already clear Rockstar is not going the all-ages route with this sequel.
Ahead of next month’s Grand Theft Auto VI trailer, three classic GTA games from the PlayStation 2 era are coming to Netflix’s mobile library in December. These might not be the versions fans actually want ported to more platforms, though, even if some visual improvements seem to have been made.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Comments: A Dramatic Reading
We first reported on Rockstar’s plans to remaster GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas for new consoles and mobile devices back in 2021. These remastered ports were finally released as Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition in November of that year on Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch. While select parts of them looked okay, the games were a mess, with new bugs, broken graphics, and other glitches. The issues were so bad that Rockstar Games did a very un-Rockstar thing and apologized to fans while offering them free copies of the original versions of the games on PC. And while the remastered GTA Trilogy did get some updates to fix its more egregious shortcomings, the games are still not fan favorites. That all being so, I’m not sure many people will be excited about these remasters making the leap to phones.
On November 29, Netflix announced that Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas—all released originally on the PS2 between 2001 and 2004—would be available on mobile phones starting on December 14. As with other Netflix-hosted games, you’ll need to be a Netflix subscriber to play these GTA ports on your iPhone or Android device.
Things look a bit different this time around…
Interestingly, comparing the screenshots of the new Netflix ports to the current console and PC versions of the GTA Trilogy reveals some changes have been made. I noticed this a lot in an early moment in GTA: Vice City. It seems as if the colors have been toned down a smidge and the overall image looks darker and more like the original PS2 version’s.
Screenshot: Rockstar Games / GTA Series Videos / Netflix / Kotaku
If you look carefully, you can still see the remastered Vice City Definitive Edition models and textures, so this is still (presumably) that version of the game.
But it seems someone has gone in and tweaked some visual settings—including the fog, based on other screenshots—to perhaps improve these new Netflix ports.
I’m intrigued by the changes, even if they are minor, as they seem to help the remastered versions of these beloved games look a bit more like Rockstar’s original open-world classics. So I might check these out once they arrive on mobile devices next month. I just have to remember how the hell you play Netflix games on a phone.
Major questions have obviously been posed about where GTA VI will take the franchise. While some want the franchise to continue pushing in a modern direction to feel more like a “sequel”, others have been more interested in the prospect of returning to past locations and time periods to be more of a “prequel.” Here are six reasons why we feel that Grand Theft Auto VI should push forward and become a sequel, rather than a prequel.
Prequels Are Playing Themselves Out
Image Source: Rockstar Games
Video game prequels have become so commonplace in today’s gaming industry. In just the past six years, franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Battlefield, Fallout, Pokémon and Red Dead Redemption have jumped backward and released new mainline entries as prequels. While they can turn out good, video game prequels can often feel like unnecessary additions to franchises that should be moving forward.
In the case of Grand Theft Auto, while the games do have an overarching canon, the stories are largely standalone. You don’t need to play one game to play the others in the series, since they always focus on a new cast in a new location. While the franchise constantly features compelling characters, there’s not much of a need to waste the resources you’d allot to a mainline game on a prequel in the current video game climate.
Save the Prequels For the Side Games
Image Source: Rockstar Games
With that said, prequels could absolutely work in the form of side games, as they have before. 2005’s Liberty City Stories and 2006’s Vice City Stories served as prequels to Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, respectively. They were compelling titles on the PSP that took minor characters from their respective games and managed to make fleshed-out titles featuring them.
While the games were well-made, they worked on a much smaller scale than their respective home console counterparts. If Rockstar were to adopt the prequel approach, it would be best to do that in the form of a smaller side project. Plus, in this current world of DLC and expansions, a Grand Theft Auto prequel could be released as an expansion to a pre-existing game when the time is right.
What Would a Prequel Do Differently From the Other Games?
Image Source: Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto VI is under an enormous amount of pressure, maybe more than almost any upcoming game right now. With how beloved Grand Theft Auto V was, this follow-up will have to find some way to not only live up to its predecessor but continue to innovate on it. It’s hard for any franchise to make it to a sixth mainline entry, but it’s even harder to stay fresh once you reach that vaunted sixth title.
Stepping back in the past would potentially limit the gameplay, as characters would have fewer resources to work with in regard to things like weapons and vehicles. Grand Theft Auto has always thrived off of the sheer amount of content it allows players to utilize to shape their own adventure, but a prequel might limit the power and quantity of resources to mess around with. As a result, with less for players and characters to engage with in the game, the sixth entry may just end up feeling like a big retread of its predecessor if they decide to take the prequel approach.
Rockstar Can Do a More Modern Satire
Image Source: Rockstar Games
Another important thing that Grand Theft Auto is well known for is its societal satirization. While the games often tell very serious stories with fleshed-out characters, they also poke at the sociopolitical climates of their respective time period. That said, as Grand Theft Auto has already taken place over several decades, returning to a previous time period might feel like a desperate attempt to recapture what may feel a bit played out.
A modern Grand Theft Auto game would be something players could relate to, as its satirical take on current-day culture will feel immediately familiar to younger adults getting into the series for the first time. And while GTA V took place in a then-modern setting of 2013, enough time has passed that Rockstar has plenty to satirize now. Thus, a return to an earlier decade may not hit as hard as it did in the past.
A New Setting Would Make Things Feel Fresh
Image Source: Rockstar Games
Early reports – and the aforementioned gameplay leaks – have indicated that Grand Theft Auto VI will be taking a modern-day return to a classic locale, Vice City. Other reports, however, have indicated the game could have multiple locations and may partly take place in South America. This would be a refreshing location that could provide a nice change of pace for the series.
While Grand Theft Auto has succeeded plenty of times with one large open world, it would be a clever switch-up to allow players to travel to multiple different places. It could keep the game feeling fresh across a long playtime by diversifying the level design while also making changes to the gameplay depending on which particular area the player is in. This could be a huge addition to the game that brings it over the top and gives the franchise another generation-defining title.
Clear Up Some Loose Ends
Image Source: Rockstar Games
Since GTA V has had a long reign of success, many players have grown fond of the cast, including the main characters Franklin, Michael, and Travis. So, if GTA 6 follows the sequel route, we could be seeing this chaotic bunch once again to hopefully give us an idea of what happened to them. It wouldn’t be the first time for this to occur, as past Grand Theft Auto characters have been brought back or discussed in various conversations.
The voice actors of the playable characters have also added more fuel to the fire by teasing their returns. During an interview with Ned Luke and Shawn Fonteno, the actors didn’t confirm or deny Franklin and Michael’s comeback, so there’s no telling if and possibly when it could happen.
But what do you think? Should GTA VI try to be a true sequel? Or should Rockstar step back in the time machine and make this game a prequel? Tell us what you think in the comments!
About the author
Matt Anderson
Matt has been a freelance writer at Twinfinite for a year, and he’s been in the games media industry for three years. He typically covers topics related to console news and industry trends for the site, and he has a major interest in first-party console games. Matt also has a Bachelor’s in Screenwriting from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, is an avid content creator on YouTube and TikTok, and legend has it he once asked Super Smash Bros. Melee to be his Prom date.
It has been a decade since the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, and fans are ready for whatever comes next in the franchise.
For the most part, Rockstar has been entirely silent on the next game, leading fans to do their own investigative work, and any possible leak or rumor spreads like wildfire. Though we still don’t know what GTA 6 will bring, there is a mountain of leaks and rumors to judge based on the likelihood of legitimacy.
Possible Release Window
Image Source: Rockstar Games
Take-Two Interactive’s August 2023 quarterly finance reports reported an expected “significant inflection point” in Fiscal Year 2025. This means they expect a massive revenue boost in just this specific span of time, which almost certainly points to the release of a huge game like GTA 6. As the 2025 Fiscal Year ends in March 2025, it would be reasonable to expect the game sometime before then.
This one doesn’t have any trail to check; it comes from the publisher directly. While they don’t come right out and say anything about GTA 6, it will certainly be the biggest game of the year whenever it does finally release. On the bright side, time is ticking down, and fans might be able to expect GTA 6 in the next 15 months.
Co-op
Image Source: Rockstar Games
Reddit user Tobbelobben30 dug through the older massive leak that Rockstar suffered and found several references to character actions that suggest co-op gameplay. The BuddyPing and BuddyComms actions suggest that there will be some sort of interaction between two players, and there is evidence that players can be downed and get revived, which isn’t exactly a single-player thing.
This one is highly likely because co-op is huge in games like this. However, the evidence provided doesn’t directly show it means co-op teammates. The “Buddy” in question could easily mean that you get AI partners that can revive you, and you can direct them through pings.
Modern Setting
Image Source: Rockstar Games
Jason Schreier commented in a Reddit thread, revealing what he knew about the game’s setting. He wrote, “I can’t rule out any flashbacks or excursions, but AFAIK the main game is set in modern times.” This Reddit thread is from July 2022, so it is highly unlikely this could change. After the way GTA 5 starts, it would make sense if that idea carried forward into showing other past events in a new story.
As this comes directly from Jason Schreier, it is almost guaranteed to be the truth. Also, it’s only been a year since the comment was made. While game development can constantly shift, it feels too late to entirely rework the game’s main setting.
Female Protagonist
Image via Rockstar Games
Continuing leaks/announcements from Jason Schreier, a Bloomberg article reveals a first for the series: a female protagonist. Following the modern setting, it makes sense to finally depart from only male lead characters. As GTA Online allowed player creation, continuing this specific series norm would be highly unusual.
The source for this one is once again one of the most trustworthy names in games journalism, so there shouldn’t be any doubts about this one. He further reveals that, unlike the three-way split in GTA 5, there will only be two protagonists in GTA 6. This could easily be where co-op comes into play as it could be two-player, and they both control one character.
The Female Protagonist is Named Lucia
Image via Rockstar Games
This one is a bit harder to source, as it is once again from Reddit, but the author has been deleted. In the post, they claim the female protagonist is named Lucia, and that she gets arrested for robbing a bank. She is joined by her fellow bank-robbing cohort, Jason.
This one is tricky, as other sources corroborate that the female protagonist is Latina, and Lucia would be a fitting name. The bank robbing is a little more tenuous, as that’s pretty much just a rehash of the GTA 5 protagonists. I know there’s not enough leeway for criminals to do crimes that result in big money besides bank robbery, but it still seems a little convenient. I can only chalk this one up to a firm maybe.
Map Based on Miami
Image Source: Rockstar Games
A different part of that Bloomberg article claims that the main area for GTA 6 will be based on Miami. This may be the reintroduction of Vice City, as that location existed within the canon of the pre-GTA 4 titles. However, San Andreas returned with GTA 5, so it’s possible.
If we’re accepting the female protagonist at face value, considering the source, there’s no reason to discount this piece of information. It’s weird to think that Rockstar might overwrite the established geography, but Vice City is older canon and could be changed. Regarding environmental variance, using Miami could mean an inclusion of the Everglades.
Outside US Location
Image Source: Rockstar Games
In a June video, YouTuber (and notable Valve leaker) Tyler McVicker claimed that GTA 6 would take players to Cuba. While the Red Dead Redemption games occasionally take players outside the United States, Grand Theft Auto has never done the same. This would certainly increase the playable area in GTA 6 and make the total map larger than ever.
I’m unsure about this, but it could also depend on the presentation. I don’t think it would make sense to have Cuba as a destination, but it would make sense if the game started there and you don’t get to return. However, assuming the Miami-esque location is true, featuring a facsimile of Cuba makes a little more sense.
About the author
Cameron Waldrop
Cameron is a freelance writer for Twinfinite and regularly covers battle royales like Fortnite and Apex Legends. He started writing for Twinfinite in late 2019 and has reviewed many great games. While he loves a good shooter, his heart will always belong to JRPGs.
A recently uncovered Rockstar Games patent suggests the developer could be using new technology to make NPCs in its games more immersive, particularly when it comes to the highly anticipated action-adventure crime sim GTA VI.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Comments: A Dramatic Reading
As spotted by Reddit user Tobbelobben30 (via Eurogamer), former Rockstar Games lead AI and gameplay programmer Tobias Kleanthous issued a patent in April called “System And Method For Virtual Character Locomotion.” The 11-page document, as Kleanthous described on LinkedIn, was “architected and implemented for games” at the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption studio. According to the paper’s abstract, the patent houses “a system and method for controlling the animation and movement of in-game objects.” In layperson’s terms, Kleanthous’ tech should make characters way more life-like. Tobbelobben30 detailed the patent’s contents in their Reddit post:
“Based on this patent, it seems like they’re using a clever system. They’ve built a library of small building blocks for character movements. These blocks can be combined in various ways to create a wide range of animations. For instance, think about a character in the game walking in the rain, feeling tired, or getting injured. Instead of designing separate animations for each of these situations, they use these building blocks to put together the character’s movements naturally. This means GTA 6 can have more diverse and lifelike animations. So, when you play GTA 6, you’ll see characters moving in ways that match the weather, their energy level, and their injuries. This makes the game feel more immersive. It’s like having characters that can adapt to different situations, making the game world feel more real and thrilling.”
“Immersive” can so often be an empty marketing buzzword thrown around ahead of game releases, but when it comes to this patent, the adjective couldn’t be more apt. Based on the tech described, Rockstar Games’ games—particularly GTA IV—should have characters with more dynamic animations, giving their worlds unparalleled realism. While Tobbelobben30 couldn’t verify if the system was used in Red Dead Redemption 2, they did say that the animations in Rockstar’s upcoming game will be “incredible.” (Kleanthous gave a talk during GDC 2021 about some similar tech used in the cowboy RPG.)
Various Reddit users have shared their reactions to this new locomotion patent. “Yeah it’s gonna be mind-blowing, even in the leaks the animations and physics looked insane,” ArkhamIsComing2020 said, referring to leaked development footage from September 2022. “Soo procedural animation? Niceeeee,” quipped ProceduralFish. “So basically if my arm gets hit with a bat I won’t be able to shoot as well? That’s kinda cool,” noted rustynutsbruh.
Kotaku reached out to Rockstar Games and Tobbelobben30 for comment.
Grand Theft Auto Online’s latest update unleashes ghosts across the world of Los Santos, letting players track down and photograph them for rewards. And one of these ghosts might look kinda familiar if you’ve played GTA IV’s Lost and the Damned DLC…
Grand Theft Auto 6 Comments: A Dramatic Reading
Every October for years now, GTA Online has enjoyed an influx of spooky new game modes and creepy secrets to celebrate the Halloween season. Last time it was killer carsand aliens. This year, Rockstar has added 10 ghosts to the online crime sim and tasked players with photographing these haunting spirits. One of these phantoms is returning GTA character Johnny Klebitz, making real an old GTA urban legend.
GTA Series Videos / Rockstar Games
Fans have already figured out where and when all 10 ghosts appear, as seen in the video above. They’re spread out all around the large GTA Online map. Some appear in places you’d expect, like old cemeteries or abandoned homes. Others are chilling near waterfalls or inside trailers. The ghosts only appear during certain in-game hours, and players have to photograph them to “expose” them.
One of these ghosts is not like the others…
Once you’ve captured the first nine ghosts—who appear to be random, generic characters—on film, you can find a 10th and final ghost in Sandy Shores, north of Los Santos.
This 10th apparition, haunting a trailer park, is none other than the ghost of Johnny Klebbitz, the protagonist from Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned. And, spoilers for a 10-year-old game, Klebitz was beaten to death by GTA V protagonist Trevor Phillips in the opening hours of that game. In fact [lowering voice and putting a flashlight under chin] he was killed in the same spot where, a decade later in 2023, his ghost now lingers! According to players visiting Klebitz’s spirit, you can hear him yelling about Trevor before you snap a pic.
Seeing the ghost of a former GTA protagonist is a neat Easter egg by itself, but this is also Rockstar making real a previously debunked urban legend that after Klebitz was killed you could find his ghost hanging around the Sandy Shores trailer park. Although players claimed to hear his ghost yelling or found evidence of his spirit haunting the area, these were all lies and hoaxes spread online in the years following GTA V’s release.
You probably saw a ton of headlines about Xbox leaks this week: new hardware, upcoming games, Game Pass costs, acquisition strategies. A trove of unredacted documents accidentally uploaded to a federal court’s case server gave the world an unprecedented look into the secret machinations of the gaming wing of a $2 trillion tech giant. But if you check out just one leak from this historic week for Xbox it should be Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer’s analysis of what’s currently plaguing triple-A video game publishers.
Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger
His analysis was in an email exchange from March 2020, in the midst of the Xbox team planning ahead of a feedback meeting with Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two. “In terms of subscriptions and the impact on larger publishers I realized that I haven’t really done a good job sharing our view on the disruption AAA publishers potentially see and how their role in the industry will likely change with the growth in subscription platforms like Xbox Game Pass,” Spencer wrote (the memo was directed to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, CFO Amy Hood, then-executive business VP Peggy Johnson, and head of marketing Chris Capossela).
The head of Xbox, who first joined Microsoft as an intern back in 1988 and has been working on the gaming side of its business for over 20 years now, proceeded to diagnose the current state of big publishers as they face wave after wave of market disruption. It was a cogent, incisive commentary on the fears driving an ever-shrinking class of mega gaming companies that are clinging harder and harder to the few big-budget franchises they have that still pay out.
Spencer lays out how publishers once existed to leverage scale in negotiations with retailers for shelf space. Then everything changed. “The creation of digital storefronts like Steam, Xbox Store and PlayStation Store eventually democratized access for creators breaking physical retail’s lock on game distribution,” he writes. “Publishers were slow to react to this disruption. The AAA publishers did not find a way to leverage the moat that physical retail created in the digital realm in a way that had them continue their dominance of the game marketplace.”
Companies like Activision, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft eventually made their own middle-man clients to try and get around platform fees, and a few later followed up with their own subscription services. None of them were built early enough or offered a compelling enough alternative to get big. Players complained about bad UI and bad deals. Franchises like Call of Duty and Madden that had once abandoned Steam returned. Game Pass got big while EA Play and Ubisoft+ stayed small. The only competitive advantage publishers have left is being able to pour more money than anyone else into annualized blockbusters.
Spencer writes,
Over the past 5-7 years, the AAA publishers have tried to use production scale as their new moat. Very few companies can afford to spend the $200M an Activision or Take 2 spend to put a title like Call of Duty or Red Dead Redemption on the shelf. These AAA publishers have, mostly, used this production scale to keep their top franchises in the top selling games each year. The issue these publishers have run into is these same production scale/cost approach hurts their ability to create new IP. The hurdle rate on new IP at these high production levels have led to risk aversion by big publishers on new IP. You’ve seen a rise of AAA publishers using rented IP to try to offset the risk (Star Wars with EA, Spiderman with Sony, Avatar with Ubisoft etc). This same dynamic has obviously played out in Hollywood as well with Netflix creating more new IP than any of the movie studios.
Specifically, the AAA game publishers, starting from a position of strength driven from physical retail have failed to create any real platform effect for themselves. They effectively continue to build their scale through aggregated per game P&Ls hoping to maximize each new release of their existing IP.
In the new world where a AAA publisher don’t have real distribution leverage with consumers, they don’t have production efficiencies and their new IP hit rate is not disproportionately higher than the industry average we see that the top franchises today were mostly not created by AAA game publishers. Games like Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, Candy Crush, Clash Royale, DOTA2 etc. were all created by independent studios with full access to distribution. Overall this, imo, is a good thing for the industry but does put AAA publishers, in a precarious spot moving forward. AAA publishers are milking their top franchises but struggling to refill their portfolio of hit franchises, most AAA publishers are riding the success of franchises created 10+ years ago.
Microsoft’s answer to this is Game Pass, not out of the goodness of its heart but because it sees a new platform it can scale to feed the financial growth demanded by investors. “Our goal is to find a way to both grow our subscription (which is our new platform) and help the AAA publishers build towards a successful future,” Spencer writes. “For publishers with 2-3 scale franchises that’s a difficult transition. Again, taking a clue from Hollywood, it’s not clear how a standalone subscale media publisher grows is this world without adapting to new paradigms or getting consolidated but we believe we can help a Take2 by increasing monetizable [total addressable market] across more endpoints inside of a global platform like Xbox Game Pass (inclusive of xCloud).”
The suggestion here is that the type of game that can thrive on a subscription service is either a small one that benefits from better curation and visibility or a live-service one that can make up revenue on the backend by charging all the new players microtransactions (the new store shelves are inside the games themselves). That’s also a pretty grim assessment, and probably part of the reason Sony has repeatedly said that bringing its big first-party exclusive games like Spider-Man 2 and The Last of Us to its competing PS Plus service day-and-date would cripple the economics of blockbuster production.
Spencer’s email was written over three years ago at this point, and was aimed largely at trying to summarize the current state of the industry for his bosses. We can see how things have played out since, though. Take-Two, Ubisoft, and Electronic Arts have decided to collaborate with Game Pass, and EA Play is now part of the service. Microsoft, meanwhile, gobbled up ZeniMax (including Bethesda Game Studios), and is now on the cusp of doing the same with subscription holdouts Activision Blizzard. All while smaller competitors like Embracer go into a tailspin.
It’s not clear who the big publisher model was serving after physical games died, outside of the richly compensated CEOs and occasional shareholder buybacks. But it’s also not yet clear that whatever replaces them will serve anyone—developers, players, fans—any better.
You can see the email exchange in its entirety below:
Grand Theft Auto Online might be close to a decade old, but it’s still popular and getting big updates from developer Rockstar. In fact, its next big, free expansion is out later this month with a focus on aerial warfare and smuggling. But it’s also adding some nice quality-of-life changes that’ll make it easier to run around Los Santos.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Comments: A Dramatic Reading
Since its initial launch in October 2013, GTA Online has continued to be updated, expanded, and ported as millions of players keep returning to the game’s large open world to commit more crimes alongside (or against) other players and NPCs. At this point, GTA Online has been around so long it has had to leap across three different console generations to keep up with players and the ever-changing video game industry. It also keeps receiving updates every year, like the just announced June 13 update: San Andreas Mercenaries.
On Friday, Rockstar shared the first details about GTA Online’s next big expansion on the company’s official website. This time around players will be teaming up with vets and military pilots to take on Merryweather Security, a large PMC that has been in the game for years, but is now apparently expanding its operations and interfering with criminal operations. To combat the evil private security force, players will join a new mercs group known only as the Los Santos Angels and take on new jobs, including stealing data from server farms, launching raids against the PMC, and dropping bombs on valuable targets spread across the state.
According to Rockstar, this new update will expand the functionality of the aircraft hangar added in the Smuggler’s update back in 2017. That’s nice, as that piece of the game had long felt abandoned and old. The publisher is also promising changes to improve the already-existing Avenger, a large aircraft added in a previous update.
GTA Online’s next free update adds more quality-of-life changes
As has become the norm in recent updates, Rockstar isn’t just adding big new missions and business opportunities to GTA Online with June 13’s update. It’s also once again adding some long-requested features in its continued effort to make the game less of a hassle to play.
One big one is that players will finally be able to choose a new option for sprinting. Currently, players have to continually mash the X or A button to sprint in GTA Online. The faster you mash, the faster your character runs. It’s a neat idea but has long been considered annoying and possibly a barrier for some players who don’t have the dexterity to repeatedly and quickly mash buttons. Now, Rockstar is adding a “hold to sprint” option to the game, which is greatly appreciated.
Another nice quality-of-life change is that, after June 13, players will be able to replace all their destroyed vehicles via Mors Mutual Insurance at once. Another nice change that makes me wonder “Why wasn’t it like this to begin with?” Rockstar is also expanding the content creation tools by adding more props and snow options.
All told, it’s a solid update that isn’t the most exciting in the game’s history, but one that will be appreciated by folks who have spent the past decade tapping X for hundreds of hours just to run faster. Finally, we are free.
Mods have for decades been a way for fans to create content for their favourite games, and for decades have been seen as a community pursuit, something free, something people do for the love of it. Over the last few years, though, that stance has begun to change.
The Week In Games: Wild At Heart
From Skyrim to Grand Theft Auto, an increasing number of prominent mod creators have begun to lock their work behind third-party paywalls, most commonly on crowdfunding sites like Patreon. This is a thorny issue! On the one hand, if people are putting in work that others are enjoying they deserve to get paid. On the other, mods have traditionally been free, and a lot of mods are built on the work of other mods—not to mention the work of the game’s developers themselves—so where do those charging get to draw the line?
Lately we have been getting a lot of questions regarding mods, and what we as a company approve of – as well as what we don’t approve of. Therefore we thought we’d try and clear things up a little bit.
First of all, while we don’t have any official mod support, we are definitely happy to see that people are engaging with our game and creating their own mods for it. It’s definitely flattering that you want to be creative and add your own ideas! Iron Gate not having any official mod support essentially means that any creating and using of mods is done at your own risk, and that we can’t guarantee that mods will be compatible with newer versions of the game.
The thing that we’ve been getting the most questions about, however, is the phenomenon where mods cost money. We definitely understand that you spend a lot of your time on creating a mod, and that you might want financial compensation for that, but Iron Gate does not condone locking modded content behind a paywall.
We feel that charging money for a mod is against the creative and open spirit of modding itself, and therefore we urge all mod authors to make their mods freely available to all who want to play them. This should include the whole mod, and not just have part of the mod available for free while another part of it costs money. If you want to show your appreciation for a mod author you can of course still support them with a voluntary donation, but we do not want payment to be a requirement to access a mod.
Additionally, we would also greatly appreciate it if mods made it clear that they are unofficial mods, both in game and on any website where the mod is available. Sometimes joining a modded dedicated server will automatically trigger a download of a mod, and we simply want to avoid confusion for players so that they can know whether or not they are playing a modded game. Valheim already has a feature for this, where you can simply have your mod trigger a popup in game, which will inform the player that their game is running with a mod.
Thank you all for taking our wishes into consideration!
Best regards,
The Iron Gate team
Seems fair! Their compromise solution, where a modder’s individual works are released for free but they’re supported generally on Patreon, seems the most workable in this situation, not just from a community standpoint but also a legal one: like Iron Gate say here, a lot of games don’t officially support mods, and so folks diving into the code of someone else’s game and making money off it sure seems like its fraught with peril when money starts changing hands.
Like I said, though, this question is going to have different answers for each game, depending on how mods are made available and how they’re supported, not to mention the views of the developers themselves. But in Valheim’s case, at least, their stance is clear! It’s not binding—all they can do is ask players to take “our wishes into consideration”—but it’s clear.
Veteran actor Tom Sizemore has died at the age of 61.
AsRolling Stone report, Sizemore was “found unconscious after suffering a brain aneurysm from a stroke at his Los Angeles home in the early morning of Feb. 19″. Having been kept alive on a ventilator for the past two weeks, his family made the decision over the weekend to “remove him from life support”, and he subsequently “passed away peacefully in his sleep”.
Sizemore, an actor you almost repeatedly saw described as “troubled” over the course of his career (he had long-standing drug problems and in 2003 spent seven months in prison on domestic abuse charges), was one of the most memorable stars of the 90s, owning every second he appeared on the screen in everything from Heat to True Romance to Saving Private Ryan.
For me, I can just never get his “very upset undercover agent” Point Break character out of my head. I will, even today, say the line “YOU THINK I LIKE THESE CLOTHES?!?!” every time I’m forced to put on a tie. Incredibly, the dude is only in this movie for like a minute. Point Break goes for two hours! And here I am saying it’s one of his most iconic performances. That’s what Tom Sizemore would do to a movie.
Tom Sizemore in Point Break
As you’d already know, this being a video game website, Sizemore was also famous for his role as Sonny Forelli in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
The game opens with Sizemore’s performance. He’s miles away from where the game’s actually set, you will barely see his face and yet he’s entrusted with setting up the whole damn thing, tone and all, and he absolutely nails it. Even when you can tell the parts where he’s just reading off a script with little idea of the context or what’s coming, it’s still good.
Sonny Forelli (GTA Vice City Definitive Edition) GTA Character Stories (GTA TRILOGY 2021)
His WHERE’S THE GODDAMNED MONEY phone calls are also excellent:
Gta Vice City – Sonny shouting at Tommy
Here’s some behind the scenes footage of the game’s voice cast—and man, what a cast—in which Sizemore makes a brief appearance:
GTA Vice City – Behind the Scenes (Voice Over Session)
In a statement following his passing, Grand Theft Auto developers Rockstar Games point out that Sizemore’s “effortless cool and phenomenal character work” had been “an inspiration to all of us” years before Vice City.
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