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Grand Theft Auto 6: All the news we’ve heard about Rockstar’s next game

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After more than a decade, Rockstar Games will finally deliver a sequel to Grand Theft Auto 5, the multi-generational open-world crime spree that has sold more than 190 million copies. In December, GTA fans will get their first official look at the next Grand Theft Auto in trailer form, Rockstar has confirmed.

While Rockstar hasn’t given the next GTA game a proper name yet, it’s almost assuredly going to be titled Grand Theft Auto 6 (or Grand Theft Auto VI). And we know some details about GTA 6, after an unprecedented leak of the game in 2022. But thanks to Rockstar’s secrecy and the enormous task of following up one of the biggest games of all time, much about GTA 6 is still shrouded in mystery.

Here’s everything we do know about Grand Theft Auto 6 so far.

When does GTA 6 come out?

Rockstar hasn’t announced a release date yet for GTA 6, but parent company Take-Two Interactive might have revealed a release window for the next Grand Theft Auto game. In August, Take-Two told investors the company plans to see a “significant inflection point” during its 2025 fiscal year, which has been interpreted by analysts to mean that GTA 6 will be released sometime between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025. Obviously, that’s a pretty big window, but it could point to a 2024 release for GTA 6.

While GTA 6 may be targeting a 2024 launch, Rockstar is famous for delaying its biggest games in the name of polish. Its last major release, Red Dead Redemption 2, was publicly delayed three times. And back in 2013, Grand Theft Auto 5 saw a significant delay, slipping from its original spring release date to its ultimate September 2013 launch.

In other words, even if Rockstar gives us a release date or window by the end of 2023, history tells us that nothing is set in stone.

When does the GTA 6 trailer come out?

Rockstar co-founder and president Sam Houser has only confirmed an “early December” release for the first GTA 6 trailer. It may or may not coincide with The Game Awards 2023, which streams live on Dec. 7. It’s more likely that Rockstar will release the trailer on its own schedule, without competing with a bunch of other game announcements.

Where does GTA 6 take place?

According to a massive leak of early gameplay videos and early reporting on the game, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be set in Vice City, the GTA version of Miami. That location was previously explored in 2002’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and that game’s 2006 prequel Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Those entries were set during the mid-1980s, but GTA 6 will reportedly tell a modern-day, Bonnie and Clyde-inspired story featuring two leads named Jason and Lucia, based on early gameplay videos. Lucia would be the GTA series’ first female lead playable protagonist in a mainline game.

Wait, what GTA 6 leak?

In 2022, more than 90 videos of the in-development version of Grand Theft Auto 6 were published online at the message board GTAForums. The hacker responsible claimed to have accessed the videos — some 50 minutes in total footage — directly from Rockstar Games’ internal Slack.

The videos show robberies, gunplay, open-world driving, a police chase, a crowded nightclub scene, and conversations with full voice acting. The game footage was clearly not intended to be shown publicly, with debug programming elements visible on-screen at the time.

One of the longer videos showed the female player character robbing a diner, as well as threatening staff and customers, who react in fear to having a gun pulled on them. Then she and her male accomplice get in a shootout with police before jumping in the police patrol car and driving off. The game’s graphical treatment is quite realistic, but still consistent with GTA games’ style.

How long has GTA 6 been in development?

Reportedly since 2014, though Rockstar did not officially acknowledge the game’s existence until February 2022.

What platforms will GTA 6 be released on?

TBD, but PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X are a safe bet. Unlike previous Grand Theft Auto games, which saw staggered releases on consoles versus PC, it seems more likely than ever that Rockstar would release all versions of the game on the same day. But given Rockstar’s track record, the PC version could lag behind PlayStation and Xbox releases.

There’s also another platform coming that could be home to Grand Theft Auto 6: Nintendo’s Switch successor. Rockstar has embraced the Switch with releases like L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, and Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition, so don’t rule out an eventual release of GTA 6 on Switch 2.

How much will GTA 6 cost?

Rockstar and publisher Take-Two haven’t announced a price point, but it seems likely that Grand Theft Auto 6 will carry a $69.99 price point, increasingly the standard for AAA video games with big budgets.

Don’t worry about those unfounded rumors that GTA 6 will cost $150, or will be priced per hour, based on misinterpreted comments from Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick. There may be higher-priced premium or collector’s edition versions of GTA 6 that cost more than the industry-standard $69.99, but hold your horses (and your pre-orders) until Rockstar makes it official.

What happens to Grand Theft Auto Online when GTA 6 comes out?

Rockstar hasn’t said, but given the massive popularity of GTA Online, which is also sold as a stand-alone experience, it will likely continue. Rockstar may have more grand ambitions for an online mode for GTA 6, and it may run two versions of the online experience for each game. The future of GTA Online is one of the biggest open questions — not to mention Rockstar’s trickiest needle to thread — when it comes to discussing GTA 6. Rockstar may very well keep those plans under wraps for the foreseeable future.

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Michael McWhertor

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November 29, 2023
November games you might have missed

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Welcome to November, the mild hangover after October’s proverbial keg stand of awesome games. Even for a quieter month, if you gave the November’s game release calendar a thwap with the ol’ broom, a few huge AAA-tier games would drop to the ground. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Super Mario RPG, and more will kick up a cloud that overshadows the arrival of smaller games — potentially great ones, even, from developers you might’ve heard of and new indie creators alike.

We don’t want to let these games slip by (and you’d probably like to know about them, right?), so as we do each month, we’ve rounded up a handful of notable game launches that you shouldn’t overlook. Stay tuned near the end of every month for our next batch of video game deep cuts.

RoboCop: Rogue City

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

A RoboCop game in the year 2023? And it’s half decent? Polygon’s review calls out that RoboCop: Rogue City is a solid first-person shooter that attempts (with decent success) to serve as the RoboCop 3 film that we should have gotten, and is filled with underdog charm and personality. It even has Peter Seller, who played the original RoboCop, voicing the titular action character in this game.

The Talos Principle 2

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Portal walked so 2014’s The Talos Principle could run. But now, after a long wait, The Talos Principle 2 is sprinting on a gorgeous, puzzle-filled path of its own. This sequel builds on its foundation, with fantastic, stop-you-in-your-tracks environments and visuals, a story that’s a stirring crash course in philosophy. Of course, it’s also packed with puzzles that’ll likely have you scratching your head before figuring out a clever solution.

Thirsty Suitors

Where to play: PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC via Steam.

If you’ve only seen video clips of Thirsty Suitors, you might think it’s a game consisting entirely of the quirkiest quick-time events imaginable. Those scenes, where your character is prepping South Asian-inspired dishes, or petting a dog don’t represent all that you can do in the game. The game’s director Chandana Ekanayake describes the game as “a baby Yakuza,” in the sense that it’s filled with an eclectic variety of activities that’ll leave players guessing. You can skateboard, cook, and then hop into turn-based battles — all delivered in a maximalist package, as our review points out.

Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story

Where to play: PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

League of Legends’ most recent spinoff comes in the form of Song of Nunu, a game developed by Tequila Works that’s friendly for all ages. Between fun (if occasionally frustrating) platforming sections, the game expands into a third-person adventure that incorporates brawling as Willump, the big yeti, and solving environmental puzzles with Nunu’s magical flute. It’s a heartwarming game that succeeds in more closely examining characters from League of Legends’ MOBA experience. Read our full review to learn more.

Teardown (PS5, Series X)

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X. The game was previously made available for Windows PC via Steam.

Teardown is a physics sandbox for pure destruction. Not since Red Faction: Guerilla have I had so much fun breaking, well, everything in sight. The game, which originally debuted on PC in 2022, includes a story more where you’re given missions that both expand your arsenal of weaponry and puts your expertise with explosions to the test. The fact that they’re time-based missions amps up the excitement. Beyond the missions, its free play mode never gets old, and can serve as some good ol’ stress relief when you want to blow everything up without the usual real-world repercussions.

Teardown

Prices taken at time of publishing.

The Invincible

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

It cannot be denied that The Invincible has some of the most stunning looks of any 2023 game. In addition to the graphical swagger of this adaptation of Polish author Stainisław Lem’s book of the same name, I’m taken by this title’s blend of calm-but-eerie atmosphere, the rad “atompunk” tech you’ll use to find missing crew members, and being stealthy to avoid facing down intimidating robots.

Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection

Where to play: PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC via Steam.

Limited Run Games is cracking open the gates of Jurassic Park so that gamers with modern consoles have a chance at the handful of titles that debuted during the franchise’s heyday in the early to mid 1990s. The Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection includes multiple versions of the original game, made for 8-bit, 16-bit (both SNES and Sega Genesis), and portable systems. It also includes Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues and Rampage Edition for the Genesis.

I want to give a special shoutout to how frightening Jurassic Park for the SNES (the 16-bit version in this collection) was for me to play as kid. The game’s first-person mode that switched on while indoors successfully captured the dread of the famous velociraptor kitchen scene.

Gangs of Sherwood

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Even though Gangs of Sherwood sounds like the name of a Netflix show that I would absolutely skip, a playable version sounds like fun. It’s a third-person action game set in a futuristic dystopia inspired by Robin Hood. Gameplay-wise, it looks like Dragon’s Dogma, with its multiple classe, each with different fighting styles and weaponry, mixed with Bayonetta-like action games, given that Gangs of Sherwood features a combo counter and a grading system. You can play this game alone, or with up to four players teaming up for some co-op.

FROM OUR SPONSOR: Aliens: Dark Descent

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Battle to keep your squad alive against the deadliest foe mankind has ever faced! In Aliens: Dark Descent, command a squad of hardened Colonial Marines to stop a terrifying Xenomorph outbreak on Moon Lethe. Lead your soldiers in real-time combat against iconic Xenomorphs, rogue operatives from the insatiable Weyland-Yutani Corporation, and a host of horrifying creatures new to the Alien franchise.

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Cameron Faulkner

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November 20, 2023
Exclusive: Venezuela’s oil tankers at risk of sinking, fires, spills, report finds

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PUNTO FIJO, May 4 (Reuters) – More than half of the 22 oil tankers in Venezuela’s fleet are so run down that they should be immediately repaired or taken out of service, according to an internal report from state-run oil company PDVSA that was shared exclusively with Reuters.

The report by PDVSA’s maritime branch, entitled “Critical deficiencies and risks of PDV Marina’s tanker fleet,” said years of deferred maintenance had left the entire fleet with “low levels of reliability,” at risk of spills, sinking, fires, collisions or flooding.

“The ships currently lack seaworthiness classification and certifications by flag nations,” the report said.

PDVSA and PDV Marina did not respond to requests for comment.

The report, dated March 2023, was among eight documents shared with Reuters describing the state of PDVSA’s tanker fleet from the oil company’s corporate office, trading division and maritime branch, as well as Venezuela’s maritime authority. The existence of the documents has not been previously reported.

Dated from Jan. 2022 to March this year, the documents detail the condition of the company’s tankers; the costs of chartering third-party vessels and the status of shipbuilding contracts with companies in Argentina and Iran.

The deterioration of the fleet has forced PDVSA to charter tankers to move its oil, which provides the bulk of Venezuela’s hard currency, the analysis by PDVSA’s trade division said.

PDVSA and the oil ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

The reports were prepared amid a wide-ranging anti-corruption probe ordered by Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro last October after the discovery of billions of dollars in missing payments for petroleum exports. More than 60 people have been arrested and PDVSA’s chief executive and the nation’s oil minister have been replaced.

The report from PDV Marina recommended withdrawing five tankers from active use; sending seven to shipyards for major repairs and installing transponders, fire extinguishers and communication equipment in others. No actions have been taken as the audit on the company’s operations continues.

Five of PDVSA’s tankers are at least 30 years old, past their recommended lifespan, according to the PDV Marina report. The last major maintenance work on the fleet was five years ago, the report said.

“The tanker fleet is showing a decline in the quality of its operations due to advanced physical deterioration, which implies higher maintenance and repair costs. Planning for sending the tankers to dry docks has been very affected by lack of payment to shipyards and providers,” the PDV Marina report said.

Reuters has previously reported on an increase in tanker collisions, spill risks and fires in Venezuela.

PDVSA leased 41 vessels last year, the documents said, paying about double the market rate, between $14,000 and $36,500 per day, to tanker owners willing to work with Venezuela despite U.S. sanctions imposed in 2019.

DELAYED SHIPS

At least four tankers ordered from foreign shipyards have been held up because of payment delays, cost increases and sanctions, according to the documents reviewed by Reuters.

The audits ordered by PDVSA’s new CEO Pedro Tellechea as part of Maduro’s anti-corruption probe could bring further delays, a PDVSA executive said.

“All contracts are frozen,” the executive said on condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation. PDVSA’s legal and supply and trade departments are asking PDV Marina for documentation on the contracts, he added.

Venezuela has paid shipyards in Iran and Argentina at least $300 million for six new vessels ordered as far back as 2005.

It has taken delivery of only two of them, according to the documents.

PDVSA has paid almost 80% of the $160 million due for two tankers from Rio Santiago shipyard in Argentina, the documents showed.

Rio Santiago said it was not authorized to give information about that particular contract.

In addition, PDVSA paid almost 157 million euros (about $173 million), or 63% of a 248 million euros contract (about $272 million) to U.S.-sanctioned Iran Marine Industrial Company (Sadra) for four tankers, according to the documents.

Two of the four vessels were delivered after payment delays, difficulties with parts supplies and problems with insurance and certifications, according to the documents.

The payment delays generated extra costs for demurrage, the documents said.

Sadra did not reply to a request for comment.

Reporting by Mircely Guanipa; Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston, Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai; Editing by Gary McWilliams and Suzanne Goldenberg

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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May 4, 2023
Leak at Pennsylvania gas storage well spewing methane

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A vent at an underground natural gas storage well in Western Pennsylvania has been spewing massive amounts of planet-warming methane into the atmosphere for more than 11 days and attempts to plug the leak have thus far failed.

Owner Equitrans Midstream said the well at its Rager Mountain storage facility, located in a rural area about 1.5 hours east of Pittsburgh, is venting about 100 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, according to initial estimates.

If accurate, that would total 1.1 billion cubic feet in emissions so far, equal to the greenhouse gas emissions from burning 1,080 rail cars of coal.

Pennsylvania environmental regulators issued the company notice of five potential violations of state law. As a precaution, the Federal Aviation Administration has restricted aircraft from within a 1-mile radius of the leaking well.

A written statement provided Friday by Equitrans spokeswoman Natalie Cox said “there are no immediate public safety concerns” and the company has been working with a specialty well services company to plug the leak, which was first reported Nov. 6.

The Rager facility is in Jackson Township, at the heart of the Marcellus Shale formation that has seen a boom in gas production since the introduction of hydraulic fracturing more than a decade ago. Residents living as far as four miles away from the leak told The Associated Press on Friday they could hear the roar of pressurized gas escaping from the well and could smell the fumes.

Tracey Ryan, who homeschools her two young children at her house about three miles away, said the air reeks of sulfur and the noise is so bad she has had trouble sleeping.

“When you’re laying in bed at night, it sounds like a jet plane taking off,” said the 39-year-old mother. ”It’s unreal, the noise that’s coming, and it’s constant. … Everybody just keeps telling us we’re safe. But it doesn’t feel safe if you can hear it and smell it.”

Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is colorless and odorless. But when the gas is processed for transport and sale, producers add a chemical called mercaptan to give it a distinctive “rotten egg” smell that helps make people aware of leaks.

Methane’s earth-warming power is some 83 times stronger over 20 years than the carbon dioxide that comes from car tailpipes and power plant smokestacks. Oil and gas companies are the top industrial emitters of methane, which, once released into the atmosphere, will be disrupting the climate for decades, contributing to more heat waves, hurricanes, wildfires and floods.

The new leak comes as the Environmental Protection Agency on Nov. 11 updated proposed new rules intended to cut methane and other harmful emissions from oil and gas operations.

The Rager facility has 10 storage wells with a total storage capacity of 9 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Equitrans announced Thursday the leak had been stopped when workers flooded the leaking well, but the hiss of venting gas returned early Friday morning.

Cox cautioned the estimate of 100 million cubic feet of natural gas leaking per day is preliminary and the company would be unable to provide an accurate account of the gas lost until an inventory verification study is completed.

The initial estimate would potentially put the Rager leak as smaller but comparable to the daily emissions from the worst uncontrolled gas leaks in U.S. history — a 2018 blowout at an Ohio gas well owned by a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and the 2015 disaster at the Aliso Canyon storage facility in California.

The citations issued against the company by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection include failures to properly maintain and operate the gas facility, creating a public nuisance and producing a “hazard to public health a safety.” The company was also cited for failing to provide state inspectors “free and unrestricted access.”

Lauren Camarda, spokeswoman for the state environmental agency, said that when members of a state emergency response team first arrived at the site on Nov. 7 they were initially barred from entering and told “access was restricted to critical personnel only.”

Cox said that when the state team arrived, Equitrans’ contractors were still in the process of implementing a safety boundary to avoid introducing a potential ignition source that could ignite the highly flammable methane leaking into the air.

The gas is coming from a vent designed to relieve intense pressures building up in the well and prevent a blowout. Cox said the company is now withdrawing gas from four storage wells to reduce the overall pressure in the field. Efforts to plug the leak were expected to continue through the weekend, including attempts to plug the well with concrete.

Nearby residents said a resolution can’t come soon enough.

Edana Glessner, who runs a wedding venue 3.6 miles from the well site, said the smell was making her nauseous and impacted her business.

“You could hear it during the last wedding we had,” she said. “And it smelled, but everybody was OK with it. We said we’re really sorry.”

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Biesecker reported from Washington and Rubinkam from northeastern Pennsylvania.

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November 18, 2022