Whilst GTA V released over 11 and a half years ago and GTA 6 has not been released yet, the highly anticipated sequel has not been in development for a decade. Contrary to popular belief, the game has actually been in the works at Rockstar for far less.
A former Rockstar Games developer who worked on GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA VI has revealed a small bit of information that gives us a time frame for how long the game has been in the works.
Whilst some fans will know GTA 6 has not been in production for a decade already based on various bits of info we’ve learned over the past several years, there is still a large portion of GTA fans that think it really has been. The reveal from this ex-Rockstar staff member once again reiterates the game has been in the works for far less.
Rockstar Dev Speaks
David O’Reilly worked at Rockstar as an Environment Artist and he now has his own YouTube channel where he discusses the games he has worked on. David was employed at Rockstar Games for 12 years. He worked on GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2 and even GTA VI.
In a recent video, he analysed the 70 new screenshots Rockstar shared of GTA VI. During the video, David explained he worked on areas outside of Vice City. These were specifically the countryside and naturalistic landforms before leaving the company in 2023.
The artist also mentions he expects none of his work to be in the final game as game development is iterative. Tools and techniques improve during production meaning work done years before can be surpassed.
David shared his work on GTA 6 began in 2018: “We went onto it (GTA VI) after we wrapped up on RDR2 (Red Dead Redemption 2).” As we know, Red Dead Redemption 2 came out in October 2018. It had many months of polish before that meaning those in roles such as David’s will have moved onto GTA VI before October. This means GTA VI only really started production over 7 years ago. That means it will have taken over 8 years come May 2026.
This Adds To An Older Story
Back in March 2018, The Know published a report outlining the general setting and details of GTA VI. At the time, fans did not believe them but not only were the details have come true along with game’s codename: Project Americas.
Whilst many would have thought Rockstar started work on GTA VI back in say 2014, in reality it was more like 2017/18. The game was rebooted internally at some point too. The cities/countries (hence the name Project Americas) was done away with for a more dense Leonida.
Red Dead Redemption 2 took the entire company 5 years to make. This is unlike in previous titles where a single studio were able to make most of a game themselves e.g. Rockstar San Diego with Red Dead Redemption. GTA VI has been all hands on deck for a few years now aside from GTA Online updates.
So all in all, GTA VI will have been in the works for coming close to a decade when it finally releases. It did not start real work and production until Red Dead 2 closed in on release. Talk of waiting a decade or more is not quite true given GTA V was still in its life cycle infancy back in 2014 and 15.
In other GTA VI news, we have an exact hour the game will go live on release day though this has caused some upset within the GTA community. We might also get a GTA 4 remaster/port this year following VI’s delay. Plus, we’ve started to build a list of the songs confirmed for the game’s radio stations here.
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