Final 12 months, footage of the subsequent Grand Theft Auto—assumed to be GTA 6—leaked on-line. Whereas Rockstar rapidly tried to erase the movies from the web and plug the holes within the ship, it was unimaginable to utterly comprise such an enormous, unprecedented leak. So followers all over the world acquired an excellent have a look at the way forward for Grand Theft Auto. And now myself and others discover it exhausting to return to the ageing GTA On-line.
Late on September 19, 2022, 90 brief movies of early gameplay of what would later be confirmed by Rockstar as the subsequent GTA entry leaked on-line by way of a hacker. The footage revealed lots in regards to the subsequent sport within the massively common open-world franchise, together with that the sequence could be returning to Vice Metropolis, Florida, a fan-favorite location final seen in GTA: Vice Metropolis Tales, the prequel to the beloved PS2 traditional, GTA: Vice Metropolis. It additionally gave us an excellent have a look at the brand new protagonists of this subsequent felony journey and among the missions we would expertise when GTA 6 is finally launched. Followers even started mapping out the sport’s digital world utilizing the leaks.
Rockstar undoubtedly hates the leak and sure needs it may rewind time and stop it from ever taking place in any respect, nevertheless it did find yourself revitalizing the playerbase. For the primary time in a very long time, there was pleasure and vitality within the GTA group, which after years of GTA On-line updates and poorly obtained remasters was in a reasonably dangerous place previous to the leak. Even an early, unfinished or unpolished leak of GTA 6 was higher than radio silence and glitchy remasters. Individuals had been pumped and hyped about the way forward for Grand Theft Auto in a approach I hadn’t seen in years.
However then, as soon as the leaks had been scrubbed from the net and it grew to become clear Rockstar wasn’t going to launch any official teaser or trailer to capitalize on the second, all I and different GTA followers may do was return to GTA On-line. And that’s more durable to do now that I’ve seen the longer term.
The newest massive and free enlargement to GTA On-line, Los Santos Drug Conflicts, was launched late final 12 months at a very dangerous time for me to play and canopy it for the location. So I simply…didn’t play it. For the primary time ever within the historical past of GTA On-line, I skipped a brand new replace utterly. I’ve nonetheless not performed it. At first, I blamed my skipping of the newest replace on dangerous timing and a busy schedule attributable to holidays and end-of-the-year content material. However now, weeks faraway from all that, with extra free time to play stuff, I’ve nonetheless not fired up the brand new replace. And I feel it’s time to confess to myself that my rising burnout round GTA On-line was elevated drastically by that small style of what’s to come back. That have a look at the way forward for GTA in Florida ruined me.
I may return and drive across the similar highways and streets of Los Santos I’ve been cruising round since 2013. I may fireplace up the sport and take a look at the latest enterprise and missions linked to it. I may, certain. The factor is, I don’t know if I need to. I imply, finally, I’ll play extra GTA On-line. I form of must because it’s a part of my job right here at Kotaku. But, if it wasn’t a part of my profession there’s an actual probability that I’d simply by no means play GTA On-line once more.
To be clear: It’s not as a result of GTA On-line is worse immediately than it was a decade in the past—it’s really significantly better to play in 2023 than in 2013—however as a result of getting a glimpse of a contemporary new world has killed my want as well up the identical previous Los Santos after a decade of GTA On-line and GTA V. I imply, simply having new songs on the radio shall be wonderful. I really like Queen’s “Radio Ga-Ga” however you possibly can solely hear it so many occasions in 10 years earlier than you’re prepared for brand new tunes, too.
At this level, I’m hoping the watch for Grand Theft Auto 6 and its sunny seashores, palm bushes, and new characters isn’t an excessive amount of longer, as a result of I’m prepared to depart Los Santos behind for a tropical trip to Vice Metropolis.