Summary
- GTA 6 release window finally announced after the longest development cycle for Rockstar.
- Mission design should be more open-ended, less restrictive for player freedom.
- GTA 6 should balance realism with chaos, and avoid over-reliance on online integration.
After a long wait, fans finally have a release date for Grand Theft Auto 6 — or at least a rough release date. At this point, something is better than nothing. Fans and critics alike have been speculating for years what Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to be like, and now there are only a few more months to wait.
Grand Theft Auto 6 has had the longest development cycle of any Rockstar game, by far. For any other developer, that would be a major concern. It's rare that a game has such a long dev cycle and is worth the wait; they call it development hell for a reason. But Rockstar has one heck of a pedigree, so there's little reason for concern here. That being said, it's still worth reflecting on what fans hope Grand Theft Auto 6 will avoid if it's going to live up to expectations.
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8 Avoid Overly Restrictive Mission Design
Gamers Are Used To Having More Freedom Now
It’s been a lengthy wait for GTA 6, and game design has come a long way. For a long time, Rockstar’s mission design has followed the predictable drive-here, shoot-this, escape pattern. GTA 5 had a bit more variety, and there were some standout set-piece missions and excellent Strangers & Freaks missions, but most still boiled down to that trinity.
GTA 6 needs more open-ended mission design. Players should be able to approach objectives how they want, rather than following a scripted path (although big set pieces are still awesome). In the same vein, Rockstar needs to avoid restrictive mission designs with insta-fail criteria. Gamers don't want forced trailing or dodgy stealth sections.
7 It Shouldn't Be Too Realistic
Grand Theft Auto Should Be Chaotic
Rockstar’s last big release was Red Dead Redemption 2. It’s a masterpiece, but it has some pacing issues. Most of these stem from the game’s incredible attention to detail and focus on realism. It’s impressive, and this approach has led to some of Rockstar's most complex games, but can also slow things down.
GTA has always been about causing mayhem, and so it doesn’t need to be hyperrealistic. If the player wants them to pull a shotgun out of their pocket, let them. Don’t make them stop and fetch it out of their car’s trunk like Arthur storing his long guns in his saddle. Similarly, a car running out of fuel might seem like a school mechanic, but it's just going to slow things down (feeding and brushing Arthur's horse got old fast). Don’t let attention to realism dectract from the gameplay.
6 Don't Jump The Shark As GTA Online Did
Skip The Flying Cars And Rocket Bikes, For Now
On the other hand, Rockstar also needs to make sure GTA 6 isn’t too outlandish. In particular, they need to ensure that half the things they added to GTA Online don’t appear in GTA 6’s single-player mode. The new game should strike a similar balance to GTA: San Andreas.
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That means no flying rocket bikes, no orbital strikes, no laser rifles, and no supervillain-style lairs. Of coutse, that doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Grand Theft Auto has always had some wild Easter eggs and features like aliens, Bigfoot, and even jetpacks. Most players also wouldn't be opposed to things like being able to mod certain cars with realistic weapons, or adding a level of regenerating health. GTA has always been chaos with a veneer of realism, and that veneer is important.
5 Don't Force Online Integration
Let Offline Be Offline And Online Be Online
GTA Online has basically printed money for Rockstar and Take-Two, even while countless other live service games have died. Cynics might even suggest it’s one of the reasons GTA 6 has taken so long to make: there’s been no real financial incentive with GTA Online around. Lots of people love GTA Online, and an entire generation has grown up with it, but millions of gamers love the single-player even more.
Rockstar needs to let GTA 6’s single-player portion remain single-player. Don’t force online elements into single-player; it’ll only take away from the experience. The story mode needs to be the priority, or fans who have waited over a decade for the game aren’t going to be happy. Millions of people will still play online; don’t let it ruin the single player.
4 Don't Make Long, Unskippable Cutscenes
It Kills Replayability, And Attention Spans Are Shrinking
Rockstar has crafted some amazing stories over the years, and the company is renowned for their cinematic approach to storytelling. But every minute players are watching an unskippable cut scene is a minute they’re not crashing into things and shooting bad guys. For every person who plays a Rockstar game for the story, there is another who plays it to blow stuff up and cause chaos.
Balance is key. Long, unskippable cutscenes could kill pacing and make replays painful. That's a pity, because there are some replayable Rockstar games. Rockstar should be proud of their work; just let players skip it if they want to. Cutscenes are a great way to show off, but don’t make them too long.
3 A Poorly Optimized Launch Would Be Deadly
After So Many Years, The Game Needs To Be Near-Flawless
Not to beat a dead horse, but it’s been a long wait for GTA 6. Rockstar has a certain pedigree to maintain, and a buggy launch at this point would kill it. After such a long wait, GTA 6 needs to launch in pristine condition. That means next to no bugs, and an experience that feels well-polished. It sounds like Rockstar is pushing the boat out, but a lot of fans are worried about performance on current-gen consoles, especially since there's no word of a PC release.
Ambition is great, but GTA 6 can’t be another Cyberpunk 2077. Yes, CD Projekt Red ultimately got away with it, but a broken release for GTA 6 would be a disaster. People shouldn’t have to wait until the next generation launches to experience the game properly. Sometimes, bugs become iconic features, but that's not likely to happen here.
2 Avoid Simplistic Police Mechanics
Take A Quality-Over-Quantity Approach
Rockstar took a quantity-over-quality approach to police AI with GTA 5. Rather than reacting realistically, the police escalate quickly and then shoot/ram the player into submission. There’s no nuance to how they react, and losing them is a pain. It's one of GTA 5's aspects that has aged the worst.
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The system needs an overhaul for GTA 6, with no more instant detection or responding with overwhelming force. In earlier games, the police made more of an effort to arrest the player, but that was largely lost in GTA 5. Law enforcement in GTA 6 would benefit from being more dynamic and realistic (at least until higher wanted levels) so that the police don't make exploring what is likely to be one of Rockstar's best open-world games a chore. Also, can the game have the 6-star wanted level back, please?
1 Don't Make The Game $100
And Definitely Don't Load It With Microtransactions
This is more of a request than a suggestion. There are rumors (unfounded so far) that GTA 6 could be the first AAA game to cost $100 for the base edition. Apparently, GTA 6 will be the most expensive game ever to produce, but a $100 price tag isn’t the answer. Gamers are already struggling with sprawling costs, and there's a guarantee that if Rockstar does it, other high-profile publishers are going to have a field day.
GTA 6 is guaranteed to sell a ridiculous number of copies. Unless something goes very wrong, it will be one of the highest-selling games ever made in record time. There’s no need to give gamers a reason to yell about corporate greed. Similarly, Rockstar should avoid cramming in a ton of microtransactions, whatever the game costs, but especially if it is close to $100. Shark cards are already controversial enough without adding them to a single-player mode.
OpenCritic Reviews
- Released
- November 19, 2026
- ESRB
- Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
