Grand Theft Auto VI: Why there is such a hype around the upcoming GTA game

A 90-second trailer for the video game developed by Rockstar Games was viewed more than 90 million times within 24 hours. Previously, the simple announcement of the trailer was liked by 6.7 million people on Instagram.

With each new release, Grand Theft Auto has established new standards for video games. According to Rockstar Games, the five GTA titles have been sold around 410 million copies to date, with the last part of the series, GTA V alone having sold 190 million.

So just why is there so much hype around GTA games?

A trailblazer in open-world games

In terms of gaming, the GTA series effortlessly jumps between different genres — the games allow players to freely decide how they want to spend their time in the game. This was quite unusual, especially at the beginning of the series in 1997.

In the first Grand Theft Auto, players controlled the protagonist and the cars from a 2D bird’s-eye view. Missions could be received from telephone booths (yes, so old school!). But it was also possible to simply steal a car, listen to the radio, drive through the city, chase the cops, or take over a taxi and and ferry passengers safely from one place to another within a specified time.

The basic formula — an open, coherent and atmospheric game world, varied missions and numerous sideline activities — has always remained the same. But meanwhile, new technical possibilities have allowed the GTA universe to evolve, expanding the number of side jobs and leisure activities available in the gangster epics.

Today, graphically opulent games in which players can explore an open world in the third-person perspective are nothing unusual. But that wasn’t the case in 2001, when GTA III was released. The title is considered a milestone in video game history, on a technical and visual level, as well as in terms of players’ freedom.

It also launched a legendary trilogy in the GTA series: GTA III takes place in the early noughties in Liberty City, a fictional city whose real model is New York. GTA: Vice City, the fourth entry in the series, transports players to Vice City, a dazzling digital version of Miami in the 1980s. That was followed by GTA: San Andreas, which is set in the early 1990s in the fictional state of San Andreas, based on California. The atmosphere of the different locations and eras is captured beautifully. The fashion, the cars, the pop culture references and the many radio stations all contribute to this.

Satire on American society

GTA games have repeatedly come under criticism for their high level of violence, explicit scenes, misogynistic content, vulgar language and racist clichés. However, one needs to keep in mind that the games are a satirical mirror of US society, with all its clichés and madness.

They parody how the American Dream can lead to excesses in a country with so many people obsessed with guns and in their belief in God or aliens. The improper behaviour of the protagonists is a satirical portrayal of a bunch of criminals who, when in doubt, will always prefer to fire a few bullets, or use a chainsaw or flamethrower, before talking to rival gang members or the police.

The long wait for GTA VI

The last part of the series, GTA V, was released ten years ago. After Minecraft, it is the second best-selling video game of all time.

While the game’ multiplayer mode has also been regularly updated with new content over the years, fans of the series have been desperately waiting for a completely new adventure. In February 2022, Rockstar Games announced, for the first time, that a new part was in the making.

But some six months later, a hacker leaked dozens of videos showing scenes from the upcoming GTA game and reportedly threatened to publish the source code.

So certain facts about the game were already known even before the release of the trailer. The setting of GTA VI is once again Vice City, an over-the-top version of Miami. Once again, the story takes place in the present. The protagonist Lucia and her boyfriend are a gangster couple, a modern version of Bonnie and Clyde, who make the streets unsafe.

Despite not coming as a total surprise, following the trailer, the hype around the game seems to have skyrocketed. Video game fans are expecting nothing less than a masterpiece from GTA VI. But they’ll have to wait a while. The game will initially be released exclusively for gaming consoles Playstation 5 and Xbox Series S and X in 2025.

This article was originally written in German.