One of the world's most respected gaming analysts has issued a crushing blow to GTA 6 fans ahead of next year's release.
Grand Theft Auto VI will go down as the best selling game of all time, with anticipation for the product at levels far above anything we've ever seen in the gaming universe.
A sequel to 2013's GTA 5, it has already been 11 years since that was released, with gamers now counting down the days until the release of GTA 6, which is scheduled for 2025. And ahead of then, the online community is losing it as anticipation grows over a suspected second trailer.
Well, according to gaming analyst Jason Schreier, who is somewhat of an insider in the industry on all things Grand Theft Auto, don't hold your breath on that.
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Speaking on the latest episode of the Kinda Funny Games Daily podcast, he said: "I would be shocked if GTA 6 actually made it next year.
"I think that it will probably slip again because Rockstar games always slip."
The reason for this? Historic issues with arguably the greatest ever game made by Rockstar, Red Dead Redemption 2, which should have been released in autumn 2017. In the end, that game was released an entire year after the original plan.
On this, Rockstar said extra time was needed to 'polish' the game; something fans nowadays can completely understand given how vastly detailed and immersive the product is, with many seeing it as one of the greatest video games ever made.
"RDR2 would slip to Spring 2018 and then Fall 2018," Schreier said.
"And that was six years ago - games are even more complicated, even more moving pieces now, slipping even further now.
"So I would be shocked if it doesn't slip to 2026. As of right now, [parent company] Take-Two is saying they are on track, we'll see if that's still the case in a few months."
As Schreier alluded to, Take-Two said earlier this year that GTA 6 was still in line for an autumn 2025 release.
Whenever it may be, the scale of GTA 6's reach knows no bounds, with other game developers holding off confirming their own release dates for new products so as not to clash with the hugely anticipated release.
And you can't blame them with price of GTA 6 is expected to be around £70, or $90, meaning an autumn release would take up a good chunk of the everyday gamer's budget heading towards Christmas 2026.
On the suspected delay, Reddit has gone somewhat crazy in its response.
"Can you imagine waiting until the end of 2026? It will be a pain. People will go crazier," one Redditor posted on the GTA6 subreddit.
Another said: "Seeing '2025' in the 2023 trailer was disappointing, it's going to be brutal if we have to wait another whole year."
But some are keeping the faith.
One user guessed: "I’m betting at some point the plan was spring 2025, it’s now been delayed to fall 2025."
And a more detailed post read: "Jason's mainly is reliant on Rockstar’s history of delays, yes he is very reliable but fails to account for the fact that GTA 6 has already undergone significant internal delays. Unlike Red Dead Redemption 2, which faced multiple external delays, GTA 6 has been kept internally until the developers reached a confident stage of progress.
"Couple this with Take-Two’s commitment to a 2025 release in its financial projections, tells me that Rockstar has reached a level of confidence not previously seen during RDR2's development."
Let's hope that last person is right.
Keep the faith.
Topics: GTA, Gaming, US News, Technology, World News, Viral, Reddit
Tom Earnshaw