Gather up your goons, tune in to your favorite radio station, and arm yourself to the teeth, because Rockstar has confirmed that a new game in their Grand Theft Auto series is currently in development!
Word of Rockstar working on another game in the series hails from Kotaku, who in a recent report detailing the studio's future plans says that management has been busy mapping out the next game in the fan favorite franchise.
One plan that management has laid out for the next game, a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, is to start out with a moderately sized release (which, by Rockstar’s standards, would still be a large game) that is then expanded with regular updates over time, which may help mitigate stress and crunch.
For me, this sounds as if Rockstar is looking to take elements of their GTA Online experience and apply them toward a new title. Perhaps the new game will be an always-online venture akin to Battle Royale set ups like CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE, FORTNITE, or APEX LEGENDS. Personally, I hope that some manner of campaign will also be introduced, though without more details it's entirely too early to tell.
Currently the legendary video game developer is continuing to make strides with regard to cleaning up their image after a rash of disturbing reports from within the company had surfaced last fall. The reports in question revolved around cultural issues and how extensive overtime on projects such as Red Dead Redemption 2 led the company down a dark road, one fraught with a destructive crunch periods as well as other conditions that made some employees uncomfortable or feeling abused.
Previously, a letter had been issued by top Rockstar executive Jennifer Kolbe, who detailed a number of ways in which the studio planned to course-correct their image and internal affairs.
“In these last several months we have undertaken a lot of work across every area of the company, looking at our processes to determine what works and what doesn’t, what we are great at and what we could improve,” Kolbe wrote in the email. “We hope that the majority of you have felt some of these positive changes already and those that haven’t soon will.”
Also included in the letter was an outline for 2020, which made mention of there being flexible schedules for developers, management and leadership training; anonymous surveys to collect feedback from employees; regular updates on the company’s future games and updates; and better communication overall.
“We have taken conscious steps to improve our approach to developing games in order to reduce the need for overtime,” Kolbe wrote. “We realise we still have plenty to do in this area and will continue to take steps so we can more accurately predict and schedule games and DLC in a way that is more sustainable but still allows us the creative flexibility to iterate on the incredibly ambitious and complex games we make.”
For more details regarding this matter, be sure to check out Kotaku's full report.
How do you feel about there being a new Grand Theft Auto game in development? Has there been enough time since the last installment to make you want to return to Rockstar's crime-ridden metropolis? What era or location would you like for the GTA VI experience to be set in. I've always hoped for a more futuristic approach to the franchise, though I'm not sure that Rockstar is ready to go that way.
Let us hear your thoughts in the comments section below.