The release of Grand Theft Auto 6 is getting closer each day, but there's still very little information available about the game. This year's GTA 6 reveal trailer sheds some light on the game's broad-stroke story, scope, and visual style, which all seem to be fairly in line with what players have come to expect from a Rockstar game: GTA 6 is shaping up to be ambitious, detailed, and cinematic. That said, how closely it adheres to the series' foundations remains to be seen.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is an exceptional game in more ways than one, but perhaps its crowning achievement is its attention to detail and uncompromised commitment to immersion, even at the cost of conventional fun. One of the most significant examples of Red Dead Redemption 2's realism-over-gameplay approach is the weapon system: players can only switch between four weapons on the fly, which helps maintain believability. A person can only realistically carry so many different guns at a time, after all. With this being such a prominent element of Red Dead Redemption 2's combat design, it's possible that a version of the feature could make its way into GTA 6, representing a major shift in the franchise's gameplay.
GTA 6 Has an Ironic Opportunity with its Police System
Grand Theft Auto's police have evolved in various ways over the years, and the sixth game has the opportunity to make another huge jump.
GTA 6 Leaving the Weapon Wheel Behind: The Good and the Bad
No Weapon Wheel Means More Realism, More Complex Gameplay
Red Dead and GTA are vastly different games, with the former being considerably more mature and sober in its presentation. But this doesn't mean that GTA doesn't concern itself with realism, to a certain extent. Moreover, the famous crime franchise has shifted its priorities and design approach with different entries, with GTA 4 being notably more realistic than GTA 5 in many ways, including:
- Driving mechanics
- Physics
- Narrative
- NPC behavior
- Tone
With a twelve-year berth between GTA 5 and GTA 6, and with Red Dead Redemption 2's success relatively close in the rearview, Rockstar might be tempted to once again prioritize realism in a Grand Theft Auto game. To this end, GTA 6 could borrow elements of RDR2's gunplay, making shooting more methodical and tactile, but also more limited, putting a cap on how many weapons a player can carry on their person.
Maybe the game could force players to store all their guns in their vehicle and only equip two or three at a time, thus encouraging tactical approaches to fights and rewarding forethought. Equipped weaponry could also impact how certain missions unfold or how players engage with GTA 6's open world, with police officers and other NPCs reacting accordingly when a player is strolling down the street with an LMG or rocket launcher—carrying this outlandish weaponry could have a holistic impact on gameplay, not just during combat encounters.
Realism Is Nice, But It Might Not Be What GTA 6 Needs
There's a multitude of interesting things Rockstar could do with a more restrictive weapon system in GTA 6, but at the end of the day, most players aren't coming to GTA for realism. Sure, the series has always boasted industry-leading graphics and impressive attention to detail, but it's also best known for letting players wreak havoc on its photorealistic cities with virtually no consequences. Realism could be elevated by the removal of the weapon wheel, but unless GTA starts sending characters to jail for using those weapons on innocent civilians, the realism point is a bit moot.
When so little is known about a highly anticipated, AAA game, it's only natural to speculate about what the final product will be like. GTA 6 might stand out from its predecessors by being more realistic and restrictive, or it could maintain the unbridled freedom that is the franchise's renown, and both scenarios have a lot of potential. Only time will tell what route Rockstar has decided to take.
Grand Theft Auto 6
- Released
- November 19, 2026
WHERE TO PLAY
Grand Theft Auto VI heads to the state of Leonida, home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet.
Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them. But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive.
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Franchise
- Grand Theft Auto
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
