GTA 6 in 'preliminary' stages of development, report claims

Grand Theft Auto 6 is in the "preliminary" stages of development, according to a new report. The upcoming open world action game would follow the record-breaking launch of Rockstar Games's Grand Theft Auto 5 in 2013 that raked in over $1bn.

According to a source close to Rockstar, the company has not settled on a location or a release date for the game. One source reveals how seriously Rockstar took the idea of a GTA set in Japan back in the early-noughties days of GTA 3 and Vice City, but it's unlikely to happen now the series is so deeply-embedded in the US.

Back when GTA: Japan was a possibility, the team made trips to the city, collecting location photos for reference, getting a feel for the area and meeting locals.

However, the Japanese capital's road system was deemed too complicated and taking the game outside North America would change a lot of the game's signature recurring details including brands and cars.

TechRadar's report also mentions that the company filed trademark applications for GTA: Tokyo, GTA: Bogota and GTA: Sin City in 2003, none of which materialised. Given that GTA 5 was released five years after its predecessor, it could be a few years before GTA 6, or even details of its release, are officially unveiled.

Launched in 2013, GTA 5 passed the $1m sales mark within just three days of its September launch and has shipped more than 60 million copies worldwide across PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, according to Take Two's financial report for Q3 2016.