What's happening with 'Grand Theft Auto VI' and what do we know so far?

Lots of rumours, very little confirmed facts.

It's been almost eight years since 'Grand Theft Auto V' was released and right up to a few weeks ago, DLC content is still being made by Rockstar Games.

All told, 'Grand Theft Auto V' has made close to $6 billion in revenue, including DLC, since its release. It's now officially the most successful piece of entertainment ever made - eclipsing movies, TV shows, books, albums, other games - the lot. In short, it is a licence to print money for Rockstar Games, so it's no surprise that they're in any rush to replace it any time soon. In fact, considering how successful the DLC has been 'Grand Theft Auto V', you can see why they're not in any rush to release 'Grand Theft Auto VI' either.

However, this is the internet and it hasn't stopped rumours spreading and the latest DLC, 'Diamond Casino Heist', is apparently chock-full of nods, winks and apparent confirmations about what to expect in 'Grand Theft Auto VI'. The subreddit r/GTA6 has long purported that the setting for 'Grand Theft Auto VI' will be Vice City, the setting for 'Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'.

This tracks with another rumour that the codename for 'Grand Theft Auto VI' is Project Americas. Add in the fact that the 'Diamond Casino Heist' DLC had references to an in-game drug smuggling company called 'Six Figure Temps' and references to South and Central America, and it's enough to get people talking.

Potential discovery? Seems a bit coincidental they chose 6 instead of 5 or 7... from r/GTA6

Of course, much of the rumours for 'Grand Theft Auto VI' have come from a now-deleted post on another subreddit, r/GamingLeaks. That post, from July of last year, had a number of claims about the game, none of which have been confirmed and no proof was offered when it was originally posted.

That post claimed that 'Grand Theft Auto VI', as mentioned, would be set in a variety of locations including Vice City, Liberty City, and South and Central America. As well as this, the post also claimed that the game would take heavy inspiration from Netflix's crime series, 'Narcos', and that the game would be set between the '70s and '80s. Like 'Red Dead Redemption 2', the game will have chapters and that the in-game vehicles and buildings will change when the game progresses into a new era. On top of that, the main mechanic of the game is building a drug empire, which would track with the 'Narcos' inspiration.

As you can expect with a game this detailed and heavy on features, 'Grand Theft Auto VI' is - according to the post - being developed for next-generation consoles like the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X, both of which are expected towards the end of this year.

So far, Rockstar have released no official confirmation on even the existence of 'Grand Theft Auto VI', let alone acknowledging any of the rumours that have surfaced online. That's not unexpected, of course, as Rockstar are famously tight-lipped about their projects. Odds are that we won't actually see any footage or the like until the PlayStation 5 is closer to release, if not soon after that.

For now, all we've got is rumours to go on, but as is often the case in the gaming sphere, they often turn out to be quite accurate.