Last 12 months, footage of the subsequent Grand Theft Auto—assumed to be GTA 6—leaked on-line. While Rockstar rapidly tried to erase the movies from the web and plug the holes within the ship, it was unattainable to utterly comprise such an enormous, unprecedented leak. So followers world wide received an excellent have a look at the way forward for Grand Theft Auto. And now myself and others discover it onerous to return to the getting old GTA Online.
Late on September 19, 2022, 90 brief movies of early gameplay of what would later be confirmed by Rockstar as the subsequent GTA entry leaked on-line through a hacker. The footage revealed loads concerning the subsequent recreation within the massively standard open-world franchise, together with that the collection could be returning to Vice City, Florida, a fan-favorite location final seen in GTA: Vice City Stories, the prequel to the beloved PS2 traditional, GTA: Vice City. It additionally gave us a superb have a look at the brand new protagonists of this subsequent prison journey and a number of the missions we’d expertise when GTA 6 is ultimately launched. Fans even started mapping out the sport’s digital world utilizing the leaks.
Rockstar undoubtedly hates the leak and sure needs it may rewind time and forestall it from ever taking place in any respect, but it surely did find yourself revitalizing the playerbase. For the primary time in a very long time, there was pleasure and power within the GTA neighborhood, which after years of GTA Online updates and poorly acquired remasters was in a reasonably dangerous place previous to the leak. Even an early, unfinished or unpolished leak of GTA 6 was higher than radio silence and glitchy remasters. People have been pumped and hyped about the way forward for Grand Theft Auto in a approach I hadn’t seen in years.
But then, as soon as the leaks have been scrubbed from the online and it grew to become clear Rockstar wasn’t going to launch any official teaser or trailer to capitalize on the second, all I and different GTA followers may do was return to GTA Online. And that’s tougher to do now that I’ve seen the long run.
The newest massive and free enlargement to GTA Online, Los Santos Drug Wars, was launched late final 12 months at a extremely dangerous time for me to play and canopy it for the positioning. So I simply…didn’t play it. For the primary time ever within the historical past of GTA Online, I skipped a brand new replace utterly. I’ve nonetheless not performed it. At first, I blamed my skipping of the newest replace on dangerous timing and a busy schedule on account of holidays and end-of-the-year content material. But now, weeks faraway from all that, with extra free time to play stuff, I’ve nonetheless not fired up the brand new replace. And I feel it’s time to confess to myself that my rising burnout round GTA Online was elevated significantly by that small style of what’s to come back. That have a look at the way forward for GTA in Florida ruined me.
I may return and drive across the identical highways and streets of Los Santos I’ve been cruising round since 2013. I may hearth up the sport and take a look at the latest enterprise and missions related to it. I may, positive. The factor is, I don’t know if I wish to. I imply, ultimately, I’ll play extra GTA Online. I kind of must because it’s a part of my job right here at Kotaku. Yet, if it wasn’t a part of my profession there’s an actual probability that I’d simply by no means play GTA Online once more.
To be clear: It’s not as a result of GTA Online is worse at present than it was a decade in the past—it’s truly significantly better to play in 2023 than in 2013—however as a result of getting a glimpse of a recent new world has killed my want in addition up the identical outdated Los Santos after a decade of GTA Online and GTA V. I imply, simply having new songs on the radio can be wonderful. I really like Queen’s “Radio Ga-Ga” however you may solely hear it so many instances in 10 years earlier than you’re prepared for brand spanking new tunes, too.
At this level, I’m hoping the watch for Grand Theft Auto 6 and its sunny seashores, palm timber, and new characters isn’t an excessive amount of longer, as a result of I’m prepared to depart Los Santos behind for a tropical trip to Vice City.
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