After decent amount of silence concerning the near and far futures of the GTA franchise, two weeks ago, Rockstar released a meaty statement about its GTA plans. Despite diverging to release Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, while also adding new content to GTA Online, it seems Rockstar has been steadily (and not-so-stealthily, perhaps) making progress towards a couple new milestones. Let’s ruminate on some of what Rockstar offered in terms of GTA V as we know it and what’s to come.

“The Contract brought GTAV’s story into present-day GTA Online as players helped Franklin Clinton set up his celebrity solutions agency and track down hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre’s lost, unreleased music, along with an array of new gameplay including Security Contracts, Payphone Hits, and the ability to step into the shoes of Franklin and Lamar for the Short Trips co-op story missions.”

Rockstar Games Newswire, 2/4/22

First up from Rockstar was mention of GTA Online’s newest content, The Contract, which features GTA V regulars Franklin Clinton and Lamar Davis. The story presented is intriguing, and it’s nice to have a new space in which to call “home,” (that being an agency office in a high-rise, which must be bought, so good thing I’m an in-game multi-millionaire) but…my GTA skills are super rusty, so I’ve not made it very far in helping Franklin do what needs to be done. But, it seems that Rockstar will be offering up a way to easily access The Contract’s individual jobs, meaning that I might be able to skip some of its more arduous story missions. It sounds great, however, I also think that I should really just re-familiarize myself with GTA V generally, which might be a good thing to do next month on the PS5!

“Grand Theft Auto V and GTA Online for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S features new graphics modes with up to 4K resolution, up to 60 frames per second, texture and draw distance upgrades, HDR options and ray-tracing, as well as offering the technical advancements of the latest console generation with faster loading times, immersive 3D audio, platform-specific features like advanced haptic feedback, and much more.”

Rockstar Games Newswire, 2/4/22

March 15^th is THE day that’s been promised for a long time – the day of the release of GTA V on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. (At least, that’s what we’re all assuming, as no word of a delay has come through at the time of writing.) With this, I’ll be able to migrate my current GTA V playthrough (that’s been in stasis forever) along with my GTA Online characters and progression. It all sounds very groovy. Those who happen to be brand-new GTAO PS5 players, will also receive three months of free access to the game and be able to take advantage of a new “Career Builder” mode. The latter sounds like it will be made available to existing players, too, which might be cause to delete my long-ignored second GTAO character a start anew.

“With the unprecedented longevity of GTAV, we know many of you have been asking us about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered — and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway. We look forward to sharing more as soon as we are ready, so please stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for official details.”

Rockstar Games Newswire, 2/4/22

Of course, any grand statement would be all that grand without some sort of “one more thing…” tagged on. In this case, that would be Rockstar’s confirmation that GTA VI, or whatever the next installment will be called, is actually happening. It certainly is a nice thing to see in print, even without any indication of timing, which I’m sure is but a glimmer on Rockstar’s horizon at this point. Guess it’s a good thing that I will have a prettier version of the current GTA offerings to stare at until that fabled day? Eh, I guess it is.

Lede image taken by author during PS4 gameplay of Grand Theft Auto V © Rockstar North, Rockstar Games (2013).