GTA 6 LIVE: Claims initial story was scrapped for being 'too dark'

'Leap' discussion

Hype for how good GTA 6 is expected to be continues as Nayef7717 posted in the GTA 6 Subreddit: "To imagine the leap from this game [RDR2] to GTA 6 will be greater than GTA 5 to this is beyond crazy."

The post is proving popular with 6.6k upvotes and hundreds of comments at the time of writing.

But a number of Redditors think the leap will not be as big as previously seen across Rockstar's games.

Due-Ad4970 said: "It won't be as crazy as RDR2 from GTA 5."

whats-this said: "Games will not continue to exponentially improve graphically, they are beginning to plateau. Improvements from now on will be seen in AI and behaviour within the game."

MuddySasquatch said: "I think we're getting to the point of diminishing returns. It won't be a graphical leap but a graphical hop from this (on current consoles)."

Game delay has fans saying 'I'm glad'

GTA 6 being delayed from Autumn 2025 to 26 May 2026 has some fans saying they're "glad".

SunGodLuffy6 posted in the GTA 6 Subreddit: "Looking back, they did the right call here. I feel like if the game was released this year in the Fall the game probably would've been a buggy mess seeing what's happening with Mindseye.

"I'm aware Cyberpunk is a great game nowadays but it was pretty buggy at launch. Either way, I'm glad Rockstar taking their sweet time and cooking GTA 6 🙏🏾"

The user got a fair bit of grief for describing their view as a "hot take" which implies the GTA 6 community does not mind the game being delayed if it means it will perform as it should at launch.

Claims first story idea was cancelled for being 'too dark'

A former Rockstar Games news site editor has claimed in an article the first story idea for GTA 6 was cancelled by Take-Two in 2016 for being "too dark".

X / Twitter account @GTAVI_Countdown, which regularly posts about GTA 6 and Rockstar Games, spotted Fravillys, a former Rockstar Mag chief editor who is understood to have previously revealed exclusive details about the RAGE engine, penned an article detailing what happened while GTA 6 was being developed.

The translated article claims Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser had three story ideas rejected by Take-Two. The first was considered to be "too dark", a second which refined the concept is said to have been cancelled 18 months in and a third was only in development for a few months.

Fravillys wrote about the first idea: "For the project's synopsis, the team of writers led by Dan Houser had imagined a detective plot, worthy of a thriller, centred around three protagonists.

"Protagonist 1: An old Vice City police officer who is reputed to be incorruptible but who ends up gradually falling into organised crime in order to protect his son, who has fallen into the dangers of drug use.

"Protagonist 2: The police officer's son, a very religious Cuban-American junkie who tries to escape his addiction and the dangers posed by the drug trafficking world.

"Protagonist 3: The right-hand man of a Colombian drug lord who manages the importation of narcotics into the United States via Vice City. His ambition is to found his own empire in North America."

A fourth storyline, led by co-founder and current president Sam Houser, is said to have been approved in 2019 with development beginning in earnest in 2020.

The information is said to have come from Fravillys' internal sources.

None of this is official or has been confirmed. indy100 has contacted Take-Two for comment.