We’ve known for a while now that the next mainline Grand Theft Auto game is in the works, and with GTA 5 now a decade old, it’s no surprise that anticipation surrounding the game continues to climb with every passing day, even if the only thing we officially know about it is that it’s in development. Reports have, of course, suggested in recent months that Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to launch within the next year and half (or thereabouts), and recent comments by Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive continue to point in that direction.
Recently during Take-Two’s quarterly earnings briefing, CEO Strauss Zelnick reiterated that the company is projecting record-high net bookings of 8 billion for FY 2024/25, which runs from April 2024 to March 2025. For context, the company is projecting between $5.45 to $5.55 billion in net bookings for the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2024.
Many have taken that as indication that Grand Theft Auto 6 is projected to launch sometime in that period, which would mean the open world title will be out by March 31, 2025 at the latest (unless plans change behind-the-scenes, of course, which has been known to happen, to say the least).
“We remain confident that we are positioning our business for a significant inflection point in fiscal 2025, which we believe will include new record levels of operating performance,” Zelnick said. “We would like to thank all of our stakeholders for their continued support, and we look forward to delivering on this exciting next chapter.”
Take-Two’s chief financial officer Lainie Goldstein added, “We are confident that the actions our teams are taking this year are preparing us for a strong trajectory of growth. Through our collective efforts, we continue to believe that we are positioning our business for a significant inflection point in fiscal 2025 that will culminate in us delivering new record levels of operating performance next year and beyond.”
Earlier this year, Take-Two said that it was expecting to release “several groundbreaking titles” during FY 2024/25 that will “set new standards” for the games industry, which has seemed to many like further proof that GTA 6 is indeed scheduled for release in that window. Leaks earlier in the year have also claimed that the game was set to be announced later in 2023 and would be targeting Holiday 2024 launch.
If previously leaked information is accurate, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be set in a modern-day version of the Miami-inspired fictional city of Vice City, and will star two playable protagonists, one of whom will be woman, a first for the series since the Game Boy Color version of Grand Theft Auto 2, which released in 2000.
Meanwhile, the decade-old Grand Theft Auto 5 continues to sell like nobody’s business, with its worldwide shipments now having surpassed 185 million units.