The game's development may have started earlier than officially stated by Take-Two.
The development of Grand Theft Auto VI may have started earlier than officially stated by the publisher. According to new documents, project expenses have been recorded since March 2019, although Take-Two Interactive previously claimed that full-fledged work "in full force" only started in 2020.
This data fuels rumors about a possible project reboot in 2020 — if true, the real start of development may go even further into the past. Against this backdrop, the unusually long creation cycle of the game is particularly discussed.
Former Rockstar Games audio engineer Rob Carr believes that a key reason could be a radical update to the RAGE engine. According to him, the studio probably "completely rebuilt the technological foundation", considering how much technology has changed since the release of Grand Theft Auto V.
Carr noted that GTA V was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 generation consoles, and the industry has made a huge leap forward since then. At the same time, the game remained relevant for many years thanks to Grand Theft Auto Online, which makes such a long development cycle of the new part even more noticeable.
