10 years of "GTA 5" and still no successor
Three playable characters, a gigantic game world and a multiplayer mode whose success is to blame for the fact that we are still waiting for the sequel. Happy Birthday "GTA 5".
A new "Grand Theft Auto" has been one of the biggest events in the gaming industry since part three. Since the switch from 2D to 3D, fans have been eagerly awaiting a new instalment in the open-world gangster series like no other game. This was also the case on 17 September 2013 when "GTA 5" was released. It is Rockstar North's most ambitious game to date. Los Santos, a fictionalised version of Los Angeles, is bigger, livelier and more detailed than any of the Scottish studio's previously created worlds. Even more extraordinary are the three playable characters Franklin, Trevor and Michael. You can switch freely between them. It literally gives the game a new perspective. It's not just a gimmick. It makes the story of "GTA 5" more multi-layered and complex than in its predecessors.
Source: Rockstar
The online mode changes everything
The campaign is the centrepiece of every "GTA" game. And yet it is the multiplayer mode that changes the series forever. In "GTA Online", up to 30 players can roam freely around Los Santos, complete quests, plan heists or simply shoot each other up. However, the first two weeks after the release of "GTA 5" have been anything but smooth. Disconnections, crashes and missing content are marring the experience. Even Rockstar's 500,000 dollar in-game bonus doesn't help. The mode is dismissed by most as a promising experiment that wasn't thought through to the end.
Source: JulioNIB/YouTube
Over the years, however, "GTA Online" has developed into an absolute giant thanks to countless updates and new features. Since its launch, the mode is said to have generated almost eight billion US dollars in revenue. The active modding Community also ensures that you can live out practically any fantasy. Flying through the air as Iron Man, triggering a tsunami and swimming through an underwater world or surviving a zombie apocalypse are just a few examples. The mode generates so much money that the sequel has been pushed back a long way. There were four years between "GTA San Andreas" and "GTA 4". The studio needed five years for "GTA 5". "GTA 6" is not expected before 2025. That would be 12 years since the last instalment.
What we know about "GTA 6"
Rockstar has since confirmed that part six is in the works. Apart from that, there is no official information. Curiosity is correspondingly high. A year ago, numerous videos of an early version of the game were leaked. Thanks to various insiders, it is now considered certain that part six is set in a modern version of Miami. The setting is already used as a backdrop in "Vice City", but in the 1980s. The game world is likely to be much larger than San Andreas. Cuba and Colombia are rumoured to be potential secondary locations.
Source: GTA Online/Rockstar
Rockstar obviously wants to stick to the system with multiple playable characters. Instead of three men, a woman is likely to be a main character for the first time. Together with her partner, the story will be based on the gangster duo Bonnie and Clyde.
The basic gameplay could be largely based on part five. That means spectacular robberies, fast-paced chases and wild shootouts. Just what you would expect from a "GTA". But Rockstar will certainly have the incentive to put its stamp on the open-world genre once again. We can look forward to it.
Being the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.