Rockstar Games has cancelled any plans for Grand Theft Auto IV or Red Dead Redemption remasters so it can exclusively focus on GTA 6's development.
Grand Theft Auto 6 has Rockstar's full attention, and the studio may not release any mainline games until after GTA 6 launches. A bit ago, renowned insider Tez2 was told be a reliable source that RDR1 and GTA IV remasters were on the drawing board at Rockstar Games. Then the disastrous GTA remaster tanked the collective goodwill with the developer, which was already in lower spirits partly because of Red Dead Online's sparse updates.
Now sources tell Kotaku that the GTA giant is narrowing its AAA vision to GTA 6, which is rightly so given the massive importance of the project. Kotaku's sources say that new remasters aren't "out of scope" and could happen at some point...just not any time soon.
Past reports indicate that GTA 6 may have a shorter campaign and rely more heavily on the live service element of GTA Online, but this time the game could expand with downloadable singleplayer expansion content. We've been predicting for years that GTA 6 would have its own GTA Online mode, possibly even tied directly with GTA V in some way, and Take-Two's emphasis on recurrent consumer spending ($2.258 billion in FY21) practically makes live services a must for Grand Theft Auto. That's especially because GTA Online continually helps the franchise make hundreds of millions of dollars each quarter.
So when is GTA 6 coming out?
No one knows for sure, but Take-Two Interactive's forecasts give a potential hint. I had predicted GTA 6 would launch in FY24, which is from April 2023 - March 2024. A number of analysts corroborated this prediction due to Take-Two's more recent forecast models, which saw a significant jump in net bookings guidance in FY24 and FY25.
Shortly after, sources told Rockstar insider Chris Klippel that GTA 6 had just passed an important milestone, but he didn't think the game would "release before the end of 2024."
GTA V may continue receiving updates via GTA Online up until (and possibly after) GTA 6's launch. Grand Theft Auto V is the best-selling game in the franchise and has helped the GTA series make over $7.5 billion in revenues since its launch in 2013.