Earlier this week,Take-Two InteractiveCEO Strauss Zelnick discussed the recently revealedrelease window for Grand Theft Auto 6with CNBC (viaVideoTechUK). Zelnick said that the timing of the release comes down to not only ensuring that the title is bug-free, but that it is also “an experience that nobody has seen before.”
In this day and age, with most triple-a titles taking almost a decade to complete, budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars, and such high-quality demand from consumers, it’s hard not to wonder whether or not we’re witnessing the peak of video games.
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While no game is “perfect,” titles such as Baldur’s Gate 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Breath of The Wild have all taken the gaming experience to the next level. Even Cyberpunk 2077, which was so buggy at launch that it was completely removed from the PlayStation store, now has an’overwhelmingly positive' review badge on Steamand is regarded as one of the best RPGs of the last decade.
There’s a high bar that has been set by not just fellow studios, but Rockstar Games itself. So, what could Grand Theft Auto 6 do to make it truly nothing we have ever seen before?
No Bugs, Obviously
While expectations from consumers are at an all-time high, that doesn’t stop developers from rushing out their next big release. Whether it’s to capitalise on a specific release window or just being too optimistic, time and time again we see new triple-a titles in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Even under the wing of EA and Respawn Entertainment, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was an unstable, glitchy mess on PC when it was first released. As was Cities Skylines 2, the highly-anticipated sequel to the smash-hit city-builder from 2015. Both resulted inapologies from the studiosthat I’m convinced were ready to go before the game even launched.
That’s not to mention the countless other video games that were released in similar states: Cyberpunk 2077, Payday 3, Redfall, Starfield, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. The list goes on and on.
If Grand Theft Auto 6 seriously wants to be considered as something players haven’t experienced before, its starting point needs to be absolutely no bugs or glitches.
Push The Open-World Genre To Its Limits
While I’m 100% certain that Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to blow everybody away, I’m still not convinced that it can be something we’ve never seen before. If it wants to even come close to being that monumental, it’s going to need to push the current generation of hardware to its absolute limits.
Graphically, I’m already expecting near-perfection, especially if the trailer is anything to go off of. But really it’s the gameplay and open-world that I’m most interested in. The fictional state of Leonida needs to be absolutely brimming with life and opportunities.
Take me back to the good old days of San Andreas where I could hit the gym and see my physical appearance change for the better, or make it change for the worse by sitting in Cluckin' Bell all day. Let me wander the streets and interact with NPCs, hear their stories and maybe even embark on different adventures (granted, Grand Theft Auto 6 isn’t an RPG, but it would take it to the next level). Let me witness random world events at every corner. Let me explore countless different buildings, not just stare at them from the outside. Make me invested in your world, Rockstar.
The Wait Has Done Grand Theft Auto 6 No Favours
Assuming there are no delays, it’s going to have been 12 years between Grand Theft Auto 5 and Grand Theft Auto 6. Twelve long years of dicking around in GTA: Online, it’s enough to make a man go insane.
Sure, Rockstar Games has released Red Dead Redemption 2 in between, which has also set the bar extremely high for the studio’s next title, but in terms of new Grand Theft Auto games, we’ve been left out in the cold. No, we’re not counting the disaster that was Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition. Nor are we going to count Grand Theft Auto 5’s multiple re-releases.
This has led to the Grand Theft Auto community setting expectations that are so high, I’m not convinced they’re realistically achievable. Like I said previously, it’s going to be a monumental release and an amazing video game, but is it really going to do anything we haven’t already seen in the likes of Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2, Saints Row, Mafia 3, or the many other open-world action-adventure games? I don’t think so.
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