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backMonday 12th May 2025
GTA VI inflated expectations and delayed PC version.
It's not going to be good or bad until I see it...
I remember when Rockstar Games released GTA V. The hype for the PC version was immense. Back then, it was delayed by a year compared to consoles. This situation isn’t too different—though only superficially—from what’s happening today with GTA VI.
Things aren’t the same for anyone anymore. That includes Rockstar Games. Over a decade has passed since the last mainline title in the series, and at this point, the patience fans once had has turned into a demand: “We want it now.”
In this context, the developer’s role in stoking exaggerated expectations, combined with rumors and leaks from alleged hacks of their work platforms, has created a snowball effect. The gaming press hasn’t let the topic rest for months. Rockstar even shifted the release date. It’s also clear by now that the game will launch on consoles first, as with GTA V. So far, business as usual—if that even applies anymore.
What used to be normal in another era is now a speculation machine that’s reached every gamer. After the second trailer, I’m still unsure how the game will run on current-gen consoles, which are nearing the end of their lifecycle. History repeats itself, even the bad parts: I see Rockstar poised to release another product designed to milk a decade of profits via online modes, microtransactions, and more.
Bad for everyone. Most fans would prefer more frequent titles, but Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive’s emphasis on “quality” confuses me. Is this about delivering quality to players, or is it a battle for dominance with other developers?
There’s both too much and too little known about GTA VI. Rockstar enigmatically reveals key plot points on their site, likely because extreme speculation and fan anxiety have already spawned countless imaginary storylines. It’s a way to shape the game’s narrative for an audience even more rabid than a decade ago.
To claim the Rockstar that made Red Dead Redemption 2 couldn’t create a great GTA in under a decade (or 12 years) would be dishonest. You’d think the departure of key figures like Dan Houser and Leslie Benzies—critical to nearly every successful GTA—wouldn’t matter. I’m not so sure. Nor am I convinced about the third-party “content sanitization” firms Rockstar has hired, which already ruined games like Dragon Age: The Veilguard and the Saints Row reboot. If these creativity-flattening entities touched the script, expect imperial-grade shit.
Graphics are where the difference means everything. GTA VI’s requirements will crush PC users. Assuming the second trailer’s visuals are in-game, 12GB of RAM and an RTX 40-series GPU won’t be luxuries—they’ll be necessities. The console-first strategy makes me wonder how they’ll deliver the trailer’s fidelity without awful framerates or downgrades. This pushes the PC release date closer to 2027, alongside the next Xbox and PlayStation 6. Ugh… feels too much like Cyberpunk 2077’s disaster.
For PC, unless you’re playing on minimum settings with a fire extinguisher nearby, you’ll need a beastly PSU and GPU. I won’t speculate further, but if the trailer’s visuals aren’t in-engine trickery, the hardware demands will be brutal.
Personally, I couldn’t care less if they call it the “game of the millennium” or threaten me with goat-related consequences for skipping it. I’m not upgrading my 8GB VRAM GPU that runs everything on ultra unless every new title demands it. Otherwise, it’s not just the $100 price tag—it’s the cost of frying your rig and being forced to buy new hardware. Hard pass.
While I’m curious, I don’t trust Rockstar without Houser, Benzies, and other veterans who shaped the series’ success. I’ll wait, but with low expectations. A good trailer doesn’t guarantee a good game—just ask Cyberpunk. Same rules apply here.