Grand Theft Auto 6 Vice City Map Debunked, But There's Still Hope
The GTA rumours are once again picking up steam as an Easter egg pointing toward a potential Grand Theft Auto 6 map has just been debunked as some wishful thinking. As the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X prepare to lock horns and usher in a new era of gaming consoles, publishers like Ubisoft, Activision, and Rockstar Games are turning their attention to their own next-gen titles and how they can stay at the top of their game.
While Rockstar has carved itself an impressive legacy with the long-running Grand Theft Auto franchise that first revved into our lives in 1997, few could've predicted just how much of a success Grand Theft Auto 5 would be in 2013. Thanks to its biggest world yet and ongoing fanbase with GTA Online, it went on to become the second best-selling game of all time (behind Minecraft) and take the honour of being the highest-grossing entertainment product of all time with over $6 billion in revenue.
To say these are big shoes to fill would be an understatement; however, with seven years having passed since GTA 5's release, there are obvious questions about what's next. One prevalent rumour was a return to the fan-favourite Vice City that has been with the series from the start and was later immortalised in 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Although a GTA 5 Easter egg and "leaked" map seemed to back these claims up, they've now been thrown out as an elaborate hoax.
What was the "leaked" GTA 6 map Easter egg?
An October 18 Reddit post from u/MrBurpAlot claimed to show a GTA 5 screenshot that was a direct reference to a leaked GTA 6 map that first did the rounds in 2018. The map has cropped up time and time again, with no one quite sure if it's also a fake or the real deal. Given that Red Dead Redemption 2's maps leaked online, we're not completely discounting the map just yet.
MrBurpAlot's post showed two postcards that can apparently be found in a GTA 5 strip club. Looking closely, the backdrop of the postcards seemed to marry up with the leaked GTA 6 map featuring a small island chain. It all ties into the "Project Americas Theory" that suggests GTA 6 will flip between Vice City and a new Rio de Janeiro-inspire locale.
The postcards would've been a nice touch (if they were legit). In a follow-up post on the GTA Forum site, a user by the name Gridl0k explained how they were stock images the original poster had edited into the frame. How sneaky!
Is there still hope for a Vice City return?
The whole Project Americas Theory continues to rumble on. After it was originally posted on Reddit, the thread was later pulled and raised further questions over its legitimacy. Still, there were plenty of plausible plot points that were easy to imagine fitting into the next-gen title. Elsewhere, the return of Vice City has been hyped over and over again, with the likes of synth artists claiming they've been hired to work on a Vice City-esque soundtrack.
Ultimately, everyone needs to remember Rockstar hasn't even given GTA 6 the green light yet. Despite continued reports from legitimate sources like Bloomberg, the studio won't confirm whether it has started work on the next game. Considering there's still so much going on with GTA 5 and Online in terms of updates, it makes sense that the company wants to keep that gravy train chugging.
We aren't expecting any news on GTA 6 for a while, and with a release tipped to be 2023 at the earliest, it might be quicker to create your own fan fiction version of the game than wait for Rockstar.
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