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GTA VI Could Help Rockstar Make Its Next Game Faster
The 13-year gap between GTA V and Rockstar Games’ GTA VI has been difficult to ignore, particularly when compared with an era when new Rockstar games seemed to arrive every couple of years.That does not necessarily mean another decade-long wait is becoming the norm.
Speaking in an extensive Bloomberg feature on the making of GTA VI, Rockstar development leaders Phil Hooker and Aaron Garbut explained that much of the lengthy production has gone towards rebuilding the technology and infrastructure the studio can now carry forward.
“The engine, the tools and the team we’ve built during this project will allow us to do things more quickly,” Hooker said, adding that the studio should now be able to build “more sideways than upwards” when creating future content.
No Plans to Rebuild Everything After GTA VI
Garbut reinforced that point, explaining that GTA VI required fundamental changes across Rockstar’s development foundation.
“We foundationally changed a lot of stuff on this project,” he said. “But now it’s done, and we’re not going to rip it apart.”
That distinction helps explain why Rockstar believes its next project can move faster. Rather than spending another development cycle replacing major pieces of its engine and internal pipeline, the studio can potentially build new games and content on top of technology already created for GTA VI.
Bloomberg draws a comparison with the PlayStation 2 era, when Grand Theft Auto: Vice City followed Grand Theft Auto III by roughly a year. The later game could reuse and expand an existing technical foundation rather than beginning again from scratch. That does not mean Rockstar is suddenly returning to annual releases. Modern games are vastly larger productions, while the company has not announced what comes after GTA VI or offered any timetable for its next project.
GTA VI PC Version Remains a Separate Question
There is also the expected PC release to consider, although Rockstar itself still has not announced one. There were reports which claimed that GTA VI could reach PC as early as Q1 2027, potentially making the gap considerably shorter than the 19-month wait between Grand Theft Auto V’s console and PC releases.
That timeframe remains unconfirmed and should not be treated as part of Rockstar’s comments about faster future development. For now, GTA VI launches on November 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
After an eight-year development cycle following Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar’s next release may still be years away. The difference is that this time, the studio believes much of the difficult foundational work has already been done.
