Remember the good old days when we all used to rummage and pillage on the streets of LA. Well, it has been more than six years since Rockstar let gamers navigate the incredibly realistic rendition of Los Angeles in Grand Theft Auto V. Updates about the leaks and rumours are gradually surfacing. Now with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Project Scarlett roughly a year away, alleged leaks about the rumoured release of GTA VI have begun to surface online.

Everything we’ve heard about the title suggests the game will be a refrain on Netflix’s Narcos, which multiple leakers have claimed is code-named Project Americas. New information posted to Reddit this week seems to strengthen some of those previous assertions and also hints at a potential release date for GTA VI.

Redditor /u/CurryLav posted a list of leaks they claim to have obtained from a source at Rockstar India. They claimed GTA 6 is already in development and teased a few gameplay details that build on past leaks.

GTA VI release date

Out of the gate, CurryLav states that “full capacity development” for GTA VI began in the summer of 2018, but “conceptual development” began back in June 2015. They went on to say that Rockstar North, the company’s Edinburgh office, will spearhead the development. All told, the game could have been in development for nearly a decade before finally hitting store shelves.

Rockstar reportedly took eight years to finish Red Dead Redemption 2. So far, leaks have suggested GTA VI will be even larger scale than the studio’s blockbuster Western. Applying a similar timeframe to the next GTA could mean the sixth instalment in the series might not come out until sometime around 2026.

But even with a distant release date, Rockstar has a history of announcing GTA games years before they hit shelves. Both GTA V and GTA IV were announced two years before release. Rockstar could do this same this time, as it’s proven a reliable strategy to stir up the hype.

GTA VI Location

CurryLav reverberated several earlier leaks about GTA 6. They said the game is internally named Project Americas, its map will be much larger than GTA V, and the game’s environment will change as the story progresses, much like Red Dead Redemption 2.

But some of the Redditor’s details about where GTA VI will take place differed from previous leaks. CurryLav said it would primarily take place in Vice City (fictional Miami) and what sounds like Cuba or the Caribbean Islands.

“GTA VI will take place in Vice City, nearby swamps and cities, small islands and bigger island that is far away from the main island,” they wrote. “As my source said, he saw the map concept. Swamps are somewhere on the left middle side, the city is in the center and the big island is down on the map, far-right on the map.”

The leaker mentioned certain missions will send players to other iconic in-game cities, like Liberty City (fictional New York City), but travel would be limited. He describes the missions as “linear and restricted” similar to the missions that took gamers to Guarma and North Yankton in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Finally, CurryLav mentioned two gameplay mechanics that could make it to GTA VI: a heavy focus on weather and multiple endings.

They said weather systems and natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, and lightning strikes will be incorporated into the story. This suggests that players need to somehow prepare for these to avoid massive loss, but it also serves as further evidence that GTA VI will be based in Vice City.

Hurricanes and floods are known to seasonally affect Miami, Cuba, and the Caribbean. Plus, Florida ranks highest for lightning fatalities in the United States.

Player choice will also shape how the game ends. GTA V gave players three drastically different options of how to end the series based on a single, final decision. It’s unclear if CurryLav means the same thing will be true for GTA VI, or if numerous actions throughout the game lead to differing ending paths.

If these thesis and hypothesis proves correct, GTA VI will be unlike any open-world adventure ever released.

(With input from agencies)