Grand Theft Auto fans are hungry for information on Grand Theft Auto 6, but it doesn't seem like any news on the highly-anticipated game will be coming anytime soon. The lack of information on Grand Theft Auto 6, or Rockstar's plans beyond the Grand Theft Auto 5 and GTA Online next-gen releases, has left the door wide open for people to spread fake leaks and rumors all over the internet.
One of the biggest supposed Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks started making the rounds online about a week ago. The extensive leak claimed to reveal a ton of information about the game - way too much for it to even be taken seriously. But while the sheer amount of information in that supposed Grand Theft Auto 6 leak was a big tip-off that the leak was fake, there were some other signs as well. Hardcore Grand Theft Auto fans were able to write-off the leak due to a claim it made about the game's supposed characters.
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According to the leak, Grand Theft Auto 6 will feature Ken Rosenberg from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, who will make references to that game's protagonist, Tommy Vercetti. With rumors pointing to Grand Theft Auto 6 being set in Vice City, that seems plausible when taken at face value. However, hardcore GTA fans will know that the Grand Theft Auto games exist in three distinct universes, and so unless Rockstar decides to go back to its older universe, Tommy Vercetti doesn't even exist in the current universe.
Granted, it's always possible that Rockstar Games decides to shake things up by merging the universes it has established or by recycling a character from one universe to the next. However, this would be unprecedented for major characters (radio station characters have appeared in multiple GTA universes), and so the claim about Ken Rosenberg and Tommy Vercetti was a major red flag.
For those who are unaware of the Grand Theft Auto universes, here are the three distinct GTA universes established so far. These universes share things like car names, locations, and sometimes radio stations and characters, but otherwise they exist completely independent of one another.
The first Grand Theft Auto universe is the 2D universe, encompassing the first games in the series. The 2D Grand Theft Auto games use a top-down perspective and feature old-school arcade gameplay as opposed to the 3D open world roaming seen in later games in the series. In total, there are four games in the Grand Theft Auto 2D universe, though these games aren't as clever about about connecting to each other in terms of story.
Those interested in experiencing the Grand Theft Auto 2D universe will need to check out the original Grand Theft Auto game, Grand Theft Auto: London 1969, Grand Theft Auto: London 1961, and Grand Theft Auto 2. While its gameplay is not nearly as comprehensive or groundbreaking as the Grand Theft Auto universes to follow, the 2D Grand Theft Auto universe did establish some mainstays, including locations like Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City.
The 2D universe Grand Theft Auto games have their fans, but the franchise didn't really become a massive cultural phenomenon until the debut of Grand Theft Auto 3 in 2001. The 3D univesre gets its name because the franchise made the jump to 3D open world environments with the camera positioned behind the player character, as opposed to the top-down view used in the 2D Grand Theft Auto games. The exception to this is Grand Theft Auto Advance, which is a 2D game set in the Grand Theft Auto 3D universe.
The main games in the Grand Theft Auto 3D universe are Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The aforementioned Grand Theft Auto Advance is set prior to the events of GTA 3, whereas Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories help to flesh out some of the other characters seen in GTA 3 and Vice City, respectively.
Timeline-wise, Grand Theft Auto 3 is the latest game in the universe, with the events of Vice City and San Andreas taking place earlier in the timeline. There are some characters that crossover between the games. For instance, mute Grand Theft Auto 3 protagonist Claude is featured in one of the missions in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. There are other ways that the games connect, with the Grand Theft Auto 3D universe making a bigger effort to connect the games together and establish that they all exist within the same universe.
The latest Grand Theft Auto universe is the HD universe, as it saw the release of the first Grand Theft Auto games in high-definition. The Grand Theft Auto HD universe started with Grand Theft Auto 4 in 2008, introducing gamers to a brand new version of Liberty City. The Grand Theft Auto 4 expansions further established the HD universe, as did 2013's Grand Theft Auto 5, which is essentially the HD universe version of San Andreas. The Nintendo DS game Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is technically part of the HD universe as well.
Since the HD universe has so far recreated Liberty City and San Andreas, many assume that Grand Theft Auto 6 will introduce the HD universe's version of Vice City. However, it's always possible that Rockstar Games will go in a different direction with Grand Theft Auto 6 and use it to launch a new universe instead of continuing the HD universe.