Bloomberg Details the Making of GTA VI as NME Eyes the Sequel Gap

Bloomberg has released a feature called The Making of Grand Theft Auto VI, bringing Rockstar Games’ upcoming release back into the spotlight. At the same time, NME published a related article titled ‘Grand Theft Auto 6’ follow-up won’t take 8 years to make.

The summaries from both sources only include the headlines, lacking any body text. Since we can’t verify the details in either article, this report will focus on what the headlines and our own data indicate.

The NME headline highlights a common worry among fans: Rockstar’s lengthy development cycles. Grand Theft Auto V hit the market on September 17, 2013. By October 2026, it will have been 13 years since the series’ flagship title launched.

This framing suggests the studio knows about the long gap. Rockstar’s own comments will be crucial, but none are present in the material we have.

The impressive numbers for GTA V explain why it’s taken so long to produce a sequel. The game boasts a Metacritic score of 92 and 83% positive reviews on Steam from 648,165 players. Even more impressive, it still attracts 22,564 concurrent players on Steam, more than ten years after its release.

Earlier reports also mentioned that GTA VI might block PS5 emulation and jailbreaks. While Rockstar hasn’t confirmed this, it hints that the publisher intends to safeguard the new release carefully.

By The Numbers

Game referenced	Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North)
Release date	2013-09-17
Metacritic score	92
Steam reviews	83% positive (648,165 reviews)
Current Steam players	22,564

Community Pulse

The sentiment we’ve tracked around the series is mostly negative across 10 signals, though the sample size is small and repetitive. One negative Steam review of Grand Theft Auto V summed up a common complaint: “I played Grand Theft Auto games for the sense of freedom. Each new installment has frustratingly difficult missions, and each new GTA offers a little less freedom to enjoy outside of those missions.” This highlights the expectations Rockstar faces regarding open-ended gameplay.

What To Watch

• The full Bloomberg report: See if it provides verifiable details on GTA VI’s development timeline, scope, or staffing.
• Rockstar’s response: Keep an eye out for any official comment on the NME claim about the follow-up’s development time or the reported anti-emulation measures.
• GTA V’s concurrent players: The current figure of 22,564 Steam players serves as a baseline. Changes around any GTA VI announcement will indicate how much attention shifts between the two games.