At last night's PlayStation 5 event, fans were waiting patiently for that first megaton announcement - what would kick off Sony's big coming-out party for their new console?
We'll admit, we even allowed ourselves to be a little bit excited when we saw Rockstar's logo appear, but we should've known better. While we know that GTA 6 is in development we also shouldn't have expected a full reveal.
Why GTA 6 Isn't Coming Anytime Soon
In a recent article posted by then-Kotaku writer Jason Schreier, a new GTA was confirmed to be in development. As Schreier reported, the game could end up being smaller in scope.
"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."
Schreier also confirmed that the game is still early in development, and this was just a few months ago.
It's also worth noting that Rockstar Games have begun to see a huge culture shift, with the studio's notoriously long hours being curtailed since Red Dead Redemption 2. As good as that game was, it feels as though it was a sizeable straw that broke the camel's back.
Why People Think It's Coming Sooner
In truth, much of the blame for the unrealistic expectation that we can play GTA 6 comes from the media.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the franchise transcends gaming. It's a pop-culture phenomenon, and for good reason, but with that comes a high search volume that sites are desperate to tap into.
Despite there being no word from Rockstar, a quick glance at the news tab of Google reveals how news sites were suggesting that the game could be announced at Sony's event, with many having written multiple pieces over the last week about the possibility of it launching sooner rather than later.
While you, a cultured reader of Gfinity and at least somewhat engrained in the medium of videogames might see the disconnect between expectation and reality in this case, any non-gaming reader might be hanging their next-gen hopes on a new console.
At which point does a lack of information turn into misinformation?
In any case, we're looking forward to playing Grand Theft Auto 5 on PlayStation 5 - just don't expect the sequel anytime soon.