Summary
Grand Theft Auto 6is one of the most highly anticipated titles in the gaming space at the moment, coming over a decade since the last entry in the series first launched to then-record-breaking sales. With howGTA 6’s trailer reveal has already broken records, it’s incredibly likely that the upcoming title will go on to do the same, which is why Rockstar’s focused its attention on it right now. Unfortunately for some,this may have come at the cost of another Rockstar title.
Rockstar’s portfolio has always seemed to consist of high-quality games, and up until 2013, the company released games for a variety of series, likeBully,GTA,Table Tennis,Manhunt,L.A. Noire,Red Dead, andMidnight Club, and over the years it had plenty of others in the works such asAgent. Since 2013, however,Rockstar has only releasedGTAandRed Deadtitles. A growing library of the studio’s past games -BullyandL.A. Noirehave been confirmed for 2024 - are being added to theGTA+subscription, but these past franchises have received no new entries of their own.
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Was GTA 6 The Reason San Andreas VR Has Been Put On Hold “Indefinitely”?
Meta Recently Confirmed Its VR Collaboration With Rockstar Won’t Happen Any Time Soon
Recently, when promoting Skydance’s VR adventure titleBehemoth, Meta revealed thatthe VR version ofGTA: San Andreasthat was announced at the 2021 Facebook Connect event has been put “on hold indefinitely"while bothMeta and Rockstar “focus on other projects.“GTA: San Andreasis still one of the franchise’s most beloved titles, with an engaging story that was inspired by gang culture in Los Angeles in the 1990s, a varied open world to explore, and plenty of activities to do within it, each of which had a gameplay purpose as they impacted the protagonist CJ’s stats.
Somewhat bizarrely,neither Meta nor Rockstar Games seemed to mention the ambitious-soundingGTA: San Andreas VRagain after this event, with it being notably absent from several keynotes in the years that followed and potentially signaling it being shelved fairly early on. To show how long it had been since its announcement, it was initially intended for the Oculus Quest 2, and since then, Meta has dropped the Oculus branding and is starting to release moretitles exclusive to the Meta Quest 3 generationthis year, such asBatman: Arkham ShadoworAlien: Rogue Incursion.
While the originalGTA: San Andreasgame is still held in high regard, the 2021Definitive Editionwas highly criticized. So, while a VR version ofGTA: San Andreashas potential due to its story, characters, and open work, and the fact that a first-person perspective has been well received inGTA 5,whether the title would be a success would come from whether it had been built from scratch, or if the VR features were just built into theDefinitive Edition, especially after lines ofcode in the 2021 release did hint at VR.
It should be noted that while many are assuming this means the project is completely canceled, Meta did state that it looked forward to working with Rockstar Games in the future, suggesting that this decision was made amicably. Still,the most obvious “other project” Rockstar is currently focusing on isGTA 6, suggesting that the title may have played a part inGTA: San Andreas VR’s production being halted.
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Rockstar’s Current Priority Is GTA 6
All Staff Were Called Back To The Office For A “Final Stretch” Earlier This Year
It’s been clear for quite some time that Rockstar is going for an “all hands on deck” approach to gettingGrand Theft Auto 6to meet its 2025 release window, which has since been narrowed down to Fall 2025. However, to reach this finish line after a lengthy development process, it seems like some sacrifices had to be made.
Initially,there had been reports that other projects at the studio, such asGTA 4andRed Dead Redemptionremasters, had been canceled- although a port ofRed Dead Redemptionwas released last year on PS4 and Nintendo Switch instead - and an announcement was made thatRed Dead Onlinewouldn’t be receiving further major updates further backed up the claims that resources and staff were all being channeled intoGTA 6.
Red Dead Redemptiondidn’t receive a re-release on Xbox because the Xbox 360 version was still playable and enhanced on modern consoles.
Rockstar asked all employees to return to the office five days a week starting in April for the “final stretch” of development, citing “security and productivity” as its main reason behind bringing development back in-house. This was backed up by the recentTake-Two Interactive earnings report, where Take-Two’s chairman, Strauss Zelnick, confirmed thatGTA 6is on track to be released in Fall 2025, stating that “momentum continues to build ahead of the launch.”
Recently, some believed that despite Rockstar keeping the release window fairly vague, the specific date may have beenstealth-dropped on IMDbas a screenshot was shared ofGrand Theft Auto6’s listing on the site being slated for June 03, 2025. This would align with the Fall 2025 release window, and does fit with many past release dates in the franchise. However, the 27th is a Monday, and everyGTArelease date sinceGTA 3has been on a Tuesday, which does cast doubt, especially as IMDb can be edited by anyone with an IMDb Pro account. Therefore, the listedGTA 6release datemay not have come from an official sourceat all.
Even without a proper release date, the fact that Rockstar is targeting a Fall 2025 window does mean that players have a better sense of when they can finally revisit Vice City than ever before. It’s yet to be seen what Rockstar chooses to do onceGTA 6has launched, as while it could return to the likes ofGTA: San Andreas VRorRed Dead Redemption 3,there have been reports thatGrand Theft Auto 6’s map could be expanding post-launch, which, when combined with the support needed for the seemingly inevitableGTA Online 2, could continue to take up a large amount of the company’s resources.
