Grand Theft Auto is much more than strip clubs, police chases and mass murders. It is a franchise that has, in part, become famous for all of the above and because it is surprisingly fun to wreak havoc. But GTA is also the cradle of great stories and several revolutions in the world of video games. Last week, Rockstar Games announced that it will present the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI in early December. So here we are, trying to organize our ideas and thinking about what we want GTA VI to be like.
Until a year ago, I was a big fan of GTA V. It was published in September 2013 and it caught me in high school and with an immense desire to play and explore the world of Los Santos. I learned the trailers by heart and squeezed every corner of the city. Then, in October 2013, GTA Online was released and I spent many afternoons immersing myself in that world of madness and virtual crime.
I say that I was a big fan of GTA V because nostalgia blinded me. A year ago, at the end of 2022, I replayed the story of Grand Theft Auto V and was more embarrassed than I am willing to admit. But then I played Red Dead Redemption 2 for the second time (published in 2018) and recognized the two wolves fighting in the fate of Rockstar Games and the publisher Take-Two Interactive.
Part of the company is responsible for GTA V and GTA Online, two unquestionable successes of debatable quality. Maybe not technically, in that department they are excellent. But if you analyze the story, its characters, and the world-building a little, all the seams come to light. On the other hand, there is the company that made Red Dead Redemption 2, Grand Theft Auto San Andras or GTA IV, among many others.
When I think about what I want GTA VI to be like, the first thing that comes to mind is that Rockstar, the one with the great stories, the one with the great characters, the one that makes you think and the one that marks you. José Altozano – DayoScript on YouTube – says in his most recent analysis of GTA V that “GTA San Andreas and GTA IV were games that seemed simple and stupid, but then had a lot to say about individual identity, national identity, the American dream and live in a society. “GTA V seems simple and stupid and it is.” Putting Michael, Franklin and Trevor on the same scale as CJ and Niko Bellic is not a comparison that makes much sense.
This desire to live a good story is linked to another illusion: GTA VI should have all the good things about the best Hollywood productions. When I talk about Rockstar Games and the Houser brothers, another reference that always comes to mind is Rafael de las Cuevas – Scanliner on YouTube. He is the author of a magnificent video series called Rockstar and Cinema, in which he analyzes the cinematographic references of the video games made by the Houser brothers.
Rockstar Games is synonymous with love for the seventh art and love for video games. His best works have been the result of combining these two passions and GTA VI should follow this same line. And now I’m not talking about the script anymore, I want to be spectacular, to play sitting on the edge of the couch because I can’t handle the emotion and tension. I want missions that stick in my memory.
And more references. The other day I was listening to the AnaitGames Podcast Reload and Víctor Martinez said that GTA VI should be something that only Rockstar Games is capable of doing. Víctor was talking about an ideal game without ballasts, that works at 30 frames per second on PS5 because it is too much. Something that pushes current consoles to the limit, but also what we conceive as an open world video game.
There are studios that do unique things. No one other than Nintendo knows how to make Nintendo games. It is impossible. And no one knows how to give games that detail and love like Naughty Dog does (and quite a few months of crunch). The same thing happens with Rockstar Games. Ubisoft can spend decades refining its formula for making open worlds, it has made dozens and dozens. But along comes Rockstar, releases Red Dead Redeption 2 and creates a new standard.
More than a cowboy game, an interactive western, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a world that you want to inhabit. In 2018 we said that it was a work that was not played, that was lived. And only Rockstar Games is capable of doing that.
But as we pointed out in the article celebrating the 10 years of GTA V, there are many risks and dangers. The unparalleled success of GTA V and GTA Online is the first burden that developers must leave behind if they want GTA VI to be an excellent game. Don’t try to repeat the formula, take risks and try. They have already shown that they are capable of doing great things, of changing the industry and the history of the medium. And I know it’s a lot, maybe it’s too much, but this is what I ask of you.
For now we have to wait until the beginning of December. In a couple of weeks, Rockstar Games will officially present Grand Theft Auto VI and show a first trailer. So I’m going to cross my fingers and light a candle.
