Will GTA VI be in the HD era?

[Patrizio 1,214]

Hello all,

 

What era will VI be part of?

 

Hear me out here. GTA III, VC and SA were clearly part of one particular era, with VC serving as a slight precursor to both SA and III and SA slightly to III. All shared some characters and attempted to develop the story of characters in the previous game. Of course there was also LCS and VCS that fleshed this out too. They all too featured in the same console era (PS2/Xbox). I'd argue then that its obvious that these games formed what we all call the "3D Era."

 

Come GTA IV, and Liberty City is redone and Los Santos too in V. They are not the same renditions as in III and SA respectively. There are new characters and despite the odd Easter egg, it is clear they form their own canonical era. They both too originally came out on one console generation. Finally, there are character crossovers. We all know which. We all therefore know IV and V to be part of the "HD Era".

 

When you look at the oncoming GTA VI, you'd assume its part of the HD Era. I'm not so sure. By the time VI comes out, it will likely have been released on PS5/Xbox Series X - two whole console generations later than IV and V's release on PS3/Xbox 360. In this sense, its too late for it to be in the HD Era. The HD Era has long passed. Almost certainly Rockstar will re-do the game engine - in the same way that IV was a different engine to SA.  Technologically, I'd argue VI cannot be in the same "era" as IV and V. Technologically, it will not be the HD Era.

 

Let's look at time. This argument might be a bit weaker but its an interesting one. Many here predict VI will come out in 2023. I myself predict a year earlier but either way VI is highly likely to come out 10 years after V and 15 years after IV. Just think about that for a moment. 15 years after IV. 15 years before IV GTA did not exist. Therefore, the length of time passed means its unlikely to consider VI in the same era as IV and V.

 

On the other hand, assuming Project Americas is real in some form and we DO return to Vice City for VI, then that will re-complete the "trilogy" of cities/locations that are present in each "era". Therefore we could argue that VI would complete the HD era and be a part of it, rather than separate from it. Additionally, I can't see Rockstar wanting to remove the canonical HD LC and LS and all of their characters - thus VI would be in the same era in terms of in-game references. On the other hand, Rockstar can't rely on 2008's version of LC forever, and at some point the HD Era will have to end. The question is, has it ended with V?

 

So what do you think? Will VI be part of the same "era" as IV and V and overlap with its characters? Or have we heard the last from the HD era?

 

Overall I can't decide - what do you think?

Edited July 9, 2020 by Patrizio

[GhettoJesus 1,914]

Yes there will be a huge generation gap between the two games but at the same time I feel like we haven't seen a modern rendition of Vice City yet and I am sure that is where GTA VI will be set. I can't help but think R* wants to do each city once for each era. Considering V's commercial success it would be a missed opportunity not to have tons of crossover between V and  VI. So I am much more ready to say that it will be in the HD era, mainly because of the crossovers because I can maybe imagine them not caring about representing all 3 cities but crossovers are always a nice thing. Plus who knows whether they will merge Vice City (assuming that will be the city in 6th) with with LS in the Online version of the game. Although probably they will just have people start all over again under the name GTA Online 2 but I bet people would see a lot of characters again from the original GTA Online.

Edited July 9, 2020 by GhettoJesus

[Len Lfc 12,337]

4 hours ago, Patrizio said:

By the time VI comes out, it will likely have been released on PS5/Xbox Series X - two whole console generations later than IV and V's release on PS3/Xbox 360. In this sense, its too late for it to be in the HD Era. The HD Era has long passed

I don't think Rockstar take it that serious, to be honest. Besides, if it were a new "Universe" It's just be the UHD universe, which technically is still at least HD. Although you could argue the same is true of the HD Universe being 3D. I just don't think it has to be a new universe simply because it's been a while and graphics are better. Rockstar will do what they want to. And I still speculate that part of the reason GTA V is being ported to next-gen is to get the map ported to the next GTA Online, so they can have more locations in the ongoing Online world. I imagine they'd keep it within the same universe.

[Dock 2,992]

Well I for one do hope that they revisit LC and expand it further (alongside a new location ofc), and in that case it could very well be the "UHD" era like Len says since they will have revamped an existing setting

 

7 hours ago, Patrizio said:

On the other hand, assuming Project Americas is real in some form and we DO return to Vice City for VI, then that will re-complete the "trilogy" of cities/locations that are present in each "era".

But we're still missing LV and SF

[Patrizio 1,214]

3 hours ago, Len Lfc said:

I don't think Rockstar take it that serious, to be honest. Besides, if it were a new "Universe" It's just be the UHD universe, which technically is still at least HD. Although you could argue the same is true of the HD Universe being 3D. I just don't think it has to be a new universe simply because it's been a while and graphics are better. Rockstar will do what they want to. And I still speculate that part of the reason GTA V is being ported to next-gen is to get the map ported to the next GTA Online, so they can have more locations in the ongoing Online world. I imagine they'd keep it within the same universe.

Interesting. So you think the idea of “universes” will be no more per se but will just gradually join together with each itineration?
 

Obviously I know Rockstar will do what they want to do... tbh I think VI will still be part of the so called HD Era. They’ve put too much effort in to start again. After that? I think it’s goodbye to Niko and Trevor and a new era will begin. Don’t know if I’ll still be playing by then, sadly.

 

@Dock bringing up SF and LV is an interesting one. SF was in 1997’s GTA and LV is LV. Both are fan favourites and surely too good to pass up in this era. But then so is VC... 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by Patrizio

[Len Lfc 12,337]

15 minutes ago, Patrizio said:

So you think the idea of “universes” will be no more per se but will just gradually join together with each itineration?

Not exactly. But in a way, yeah. I think since the days of 3 GTA games in the space of 4 or 5 years are gone, they can't really afford to reboot their "universes" each time. The main reason Rockstar started a new "universe" was because they felt GTA IV required different kinds of characters. And honestly, I don't think that will change for GTA VI. I just think the graphics and level of detail will improve. I think Rockstar is more than happy with their current renditions of LA & NY, and wouldn't want to change them, unless they really did want to connect them all into one map or landmass, for example.

 

But hey, I can easily be wrong.

 

[D T 3,122]

The entire GTA universe is so completely f*cked at this point they need to just bin everything. I never wanna hear about BAWSAQ, Merryweather, or Glory Hole ever again. Let Trevor, Lester, and the rest of the cast forever rot in the purgatory known as GTA V. Just start from scratch and make the world feel believable, without five dick jokes lurking around every corner.

[Aquamaniac 355]

I'd say it depends on the location, if it's Vice City or an entirely new location they can stay in the same era, if they redo Liberty City they start a new era.

 

[Lancerator 1,212]

No it will be in the 2D era with Jerry Martinez' sister as protagonist, Taliana. 

[Jabalous 8,059]

I don't put any thought into this concept anymore. It's easy to just say that there's a Grand Theft Auto universe, same as saying that there's a Red Dead universe. Eras, sub-universe and whatnot don't make sense at this point and it makes everything complicated for no use, especially in the context of video games where stories and virtual worlds are constantly being shaped by the available technology, unlike a novel or a TV series. 

Edited July 10, 2020 by Jabalous

[Zello 18,759]

I don't think that they'd want to reboot the series again. We've only had two games in the HD era three if you count CTW. There's still a lot more that they can do with it. We haven't seen what the HD era was like in the past.

 

Comic books and movies/tv shows do reboots and reset their continuity all the time so I guess anything is possible and we get a new universe. I just don't want to go through all that again after getting attached to the HD era.

Edited July 10, 2020 by Zello

[GhettoJesus 1,914]

9 hours ago, D T said:

The entire GTA universe is so completely f*cked at this point they need to just bin everything. I never wanna hear about BAWSAQ, Merryweather, or Glory Hole ever again. Let Trevor, Lester, and the rest of the cast forever rot in the purgatory known as GTA V. Just start from scratch and make the world feel believable, without five dick jokes lurking around every corner.

I agree so much with you in this point. V was very sloppy with the writing but as sad it might be Trevor might just be a sort of cash cow. I assume he would appeal to the humor of less mature people.

[el carlitos 2,663]

GTA 6 will be 4K universe.

[Orbea Occam 1,320]

GTA VI will be in an entirely new universe altogether. RDR is not in the same universe as GTA.

[Len Lfc 12,337]

13 hours ago, el carlitos said:

GTA 6 will be 4K universe.

GTA V already is/will be.

So is GTA IV, technically speaking.

[el carlitos 2,663]

42 minutes ago, Len Lfc said:

GTA V already is/will be.

So is GTA IV, technically speaking.

What I wanted to say.

GTA is HD universe, even if PC has 4K resolution and NG will have.

But I guess GTA6 will be a new universe, which I called 4K. Probably it will be named differently. But I don't think it will be the GTA IV and V universe.

Edited July 10, 2020 by el carlitos

[Len Lfc 12,337]

6 minutes ago, el carlitos said:

What I wanted to say.

GTA is HD universe, even if PC has 4K resolution and NG will have.

But I guess GTA6 will be a new universe, which I called 4K. Probably it will be named differently. But I don't think it will be the GTA IV and V universe.

4K is Ultra High Definition, so the "UHD Universe". But, there's no reason to believe it'll be a new universe. Especially if they're planning on building Grand Theft Auto Online to contain all their locations. 

[el carlitos 2,663]

23 minutes ago, Len Lfc said:

4K is Ultra High Definition, so the "UHD Universe". But, there's no reason to believe it'll be a new universe. Especially if they're planning on building Grand Theft Auto Online to contain all their locations. 

Ye true, if that is the case.

Still, I believe they will milk GTA Online for a while but we will get a new GTA Online with GTA6, which still could take few years easy.

In fact nothing about GTA6 and its Online part is confirmed and we don't know if GTA Online will just continue when GTA6 releases without a "new" GTA Online or, and that is my guess, GTA Online from GTAV and the next GTA Online from GTA6 will run parallel and not at the same universe. Just my guess.

Edited July 10, 2020 by el carlitos

[Len Lfc 12,337]

11 minutes ago, el carlitos said:

we don't know if GTA Online will just continue when GTA6 releases without a "new" GTA Online

We don't 'know' officially. But it will, of course. It's like saying why would Rockstar make a new online mode when GTA IV had multiplayer. The entire game changes, and when GTA VI releases it will have new mechanics, driving, shooting, etc. By that logic (continuing Online and not making a new one) you'd still be playing a 2013 game for ever and ever. And that's just not going to happen.

[Americana 4,191]

I don't think we'll ever be out of HD era...

 

---

[MrBreak16 1,021]

Maybe it will be the Ultra HD Era

Edited July 11, 2020 by MrBreak16

[Nico 3,777]

More than enough people complained already when the current generation of GTA began, plummeting the possibility of many beloved 3D era characters (mUh cJ!!!11) returning. Now that this generation has completely established itself with GTA V, it would be a massive mistake to drop it. Back then, changing the "era" was justified because of the major generational leap that was moving from PS2 and Xbox to PS3 and 360. But now, generational leaps aren't as big as they were back then. You won't see Rockstar ditching the universe they have been slowly building over the last 12 years just so you can play in 4K. The change is not big enough to justify it.

[Kris194 6,041]

HD universe still has a lot to offer.

 

https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline_(HD_Universe)

[DexMacLeod 1,782]

The only way I can see them rebooting the Universe again would be if they decide to totally rebuild/design Liberty City or Los Santos, which seems unlikely. If the game is going to be set in a city that we haven't seen yet in the HD Universe then what would be the point of rebooting everything? There's generally only a small handful of characters that cross over between games and they're always inconsequential to the plot anyway.

[Patrizio 1,214]

Interesting discussion.

 

So whilst technologically VI is likely to look quite different to IV and, to a lesser extent perhaps, V, canonically it will most probably part of the same era. That I agree with. After that? Who knows. As @DexMacLeod and  @Nico says I agree that I can't see them wishing to redesign their main cities over and over - perhaps they would do them in different time periods and expand them with their states some more, as we have seen in RDR2. I think they're likely to do that.

 

I remember the days on here when people argued that a GTA game with a "number" symbolised a new generation. Those days are over of course and that argument has gone. However, there are certain crossovers that should continue in each GTA regardless of "era":

• El Burro
• Payphones
• The original GTA theme (Da Shootaz - Grand Theft Auto) and in pager theme (III/IV).

Edited July 12, 2020 by Patrizio

[Orbea Occam 1,320]

This is why Rockstar need to start venturing out into new cities to avoid all this 3D/HD/Ultra HD era nonsense. None of that would matter if they simply set GTA games in cities that havnt been used before.

 

Not sure about anyone else but I would feel completely cheated if after 7 years (10 when the game comes out) they decided to set the game in the same Liberty City we saw in 2008. I think it's time we all admit that the era thing was just something they could use as an excuse to rehash the same cities over and over with a different lick of paint.

 

If Rockstar are serious about revitalising the GTA series and making it interesting again then they would set VI (and any games that comes after that) in new locations not previously featured in GTA.

[Patrizio 1,214]

20 minutes ago, Dark Rosewood Varnish said:

This is why Rockstar need to start venturing out into new cities to avoid all this 3D/HD/Ultra HD era nonsense. None of that would matter if they simply set GTA games in cities that havnt been used before.

 

Not sure about anyone else but I would feel completely cheated if after 7 years (10 when the game comes out) they decided to set the game in the same Liberty City we saw in 2008. I think it's time we all admit that the era thing was just something they could use as an excuse to rehash the same cities over and over with a different lick of paint.

 

If Rockstar are serious about revitalising the GTA series and making it interesting again then they would set VI (and any games that comes after that) in new locations not previously featured in GTA.

Its a fair point. I'd argue Vice City can justifiably be revisited. Regarding LC though, I'm the same - I don't want to see it again. If we see another eastern city, it should be Baltimore/Philly/Boston/Chicago (if you count that as eastern) or even a fictionalised version like III's LC.

[Yinepi 1,444]

What I'd say is that what they need to do for the next game is cut all ties to older games completely. No characters, no easter eggs, no ties to the past except for the city name. They need to make GTA6 feel like it's own universe doing its own thing like GTA1,2, and III all did. Those 3 games all felt like they were seperate series in themselves and it worked well. Once Rockstar tried to mix stories and do easter eggs and references to the past the series became this complex inconsistent contradictory mess.

And I don't mean to say that it's that way because continuing stories is bad, it is because Rockstar approached it badly and as of late just stopped caring. If they gave care and gave up the era/universe divide BS I'd be all for it. But I think the series is at a point where it'll be hard for them to correct the mess without essentially rebooting the series.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Yinepi

[jippa_lippa 607]

Considering GTA V is going next gen, GTA VI will surely be in the same universe.

Assuming we get a 1980s setting, we might see a young version of Michael and Trevor (like 18-19 years old in 1988).
I'd also love to see a very young version of Nervous Ron and perhaps some characters from GTA IV.

Edited July 13, 2020 by jippa_lippa

[SneakyDeaky 2,449]

I don't think they take it all that seriously these days. Back then GTA IV really was the start of a new era - a new physics engine, new graphics engine, modern setting, more serious narrative, on new consoles. It was fitting to call it the HD universe at the time and good marketing. But now I'd rather they just write good stories regardless of which previous characters show up. 

 

Look at it this way, if they did Liberty City again, would it look vastly different from the previous Liberty City? It would still be a New York parody, but even more detailed and dense. But still very familiar. 

 

If there's one series that could have a new "era" it would be Red Dead. There's a chance the "Redemption" tagline is removed, the game is set in a very different period of the Wild West, with a completely different cast. If they were to market RDR 3 as being a new "era" or "Universe" I'd be fine with that. 

Edited August 15, 2020 by SneakyDeaky