Rockstar Games says its next project should arrive much faster than Grand Theft Auto VI thanks to the technology, tools and team built during the game’s lengthy development.
Rockstar Games has promised that its next game won’t take eight years to arrive after Grand Theft Auto VI, with the studio saying the technology and expertise developed during its latest project should allow it to work much faster.
GTA 6 launches in November, eight years after Rockstar’s previous game, Red Dead Redemption 2.
That lengthy wait has left fans wondering whether the studio’s notoriously ambitious development cycles will continue, but Rockstar leadership believes the work invested in GTA 6 has created a foundation for future projects.
The studio’s co-head of development Phil Hooker told Bloomberg: “The engine, the tools and the team we’ve built during this project will allow us to do things more quickly.
“I feel confident that we can build on top of this and go more sideways than upwards to build more compelling content.”
Co-head of development Aaron Garbut added that Rockstar had made fundamental changes during GTA 6’s development, but would not be tearing that work apart for its next project.
He said: “We foundationally changed a lot of stuff on this project. But now it’s done, and we’re not going to rip it apart.”
That has inevitably prompted speculation about what Rockstar could make next.
Bloomberg compared GTA 6’s position to Grand Theft Auto 3, which established the modern 3D GTA formula before Rockstar quickly followed it with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in 2002.
A faster development cycle could potentially allow Rockstar to revisit GTA more frequently, perhaps with another city or a smaller-scale project.
Red Dead Redemption 3 is another obvious candidate. Rockstar has not announced the game, although former co-founder Dan Houser previously said it “will probably happen”.
Red Dead Redemption 2 actor Roger Clark has also said he is “certain” another Red Dead game will eventually arrive, while stressing that Arthur Morgan’s story is finished.
Clark believes another Red Dead is inevitable partly because Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold more than 60 million copies.
For now, Rockstar isn’t revealing what comes after GTA 6.
But its developers’ comments suggest the studio has no intention of repeating another eight-year development cycle.
After years of waiting for GTA 6, that could be the most welcome promise Rockstar has made yet.
Rockstar says next game won’t take eight years to make after lengthy Grand Theft Auto VI wait
