Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out later this year, but there’s little to hold on to in terms of official details as Rockstar Games has maintained complete silence about the game since the trailer reveal in December 2023. With its fast-approaching Fall 2025 release window, however, the developer is likely to share more about the game in the coming months. The first trailer shed light on one of GTA 6’s two protagonists, confirmed the game’s Florida-inspired Vice City setting and showed players what they could expect when it launches on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.
While the trailer suggested some of the improvements coming to GTA 6, there’s, however, a lot that players would like to see in the game when it’s finally out in the wild. Considering what we saw in Grand Theft Auto 5 and Rockstar’s improvements to open world interaction in Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA 6 could surpass the sky-high expectations and deliver the standout game of the generation. Here are some of the improvements we would like to see in Grand Theft Auto 6.
A Better Story
GTA 5 excels on so many levels that it becomes easy to forgive its middling, muddled story. There’s an interesting premise with three distinct playable characters, but Rockstar fails to build it into an interesting, weaving narrative with satisfying arcs for each protagonist. The game banks on its big set-piece missions to deliver on the spectacle — and they do — but the story inevitably takes a back seat.
That was not the case with Red Dead Redemption 2. The Western action-adventure title had plenty of blockbuster moments, but the story of Arthur Morgan and his desperate attempts to keep the Dutch van der Linde gang afloat while scripting his own personal redemption is perhaps yet to be bested in triple-A video games. Red Dead Redemption 2 has some of the most beautiful game environments in the medium; it has some of the best music written for video games; it has one of the best and most interactive open worlds ever crafted for a video game; but the game’s story and characters stand tallest.
With GTA 6, we hope Rockstar pours the same amount of care and attention into the narrative. The story will focus on the escapades of Lucia and Jason (name yet unconfirmed), a Bonnie and Clyde-inspired crime couple trying to make it in Vice City. GTA 6’s technical improvements would be that much better if the game told an affecting story.
GTA 6 features Bonnie and Clyde-inspired dual protagonists
Photo Credit: Rockstar Games
A More Interactive Open World
While GTA 5 featured an expansive open world, it often didn’t let players engage with that world. Very few buildings were enterable in the game, and vast stretches of land outside the city offered little in terms of player interaction. Red Dead Redemption 2’s open world, in comparison, felt a lot more alive. You could interact with every NPC in the game, which made the game world feel alive.
With GTA 6, Rockstar has promised to “push the limits of what’s possible in highly immersive, story-driven open-world experiences.” It’s been reported that players will be able to enter more buildings, take part in robberies and hold-ups at stores and restaurants and interact with the open world in new ways. If Rockstar is able to deliver on its promise, Vice City and the larger state of Miami-inspired Leonida could end up being the most immersive open world the developer has ever made.
GTA 6 is set in Miami-inspired Leonida
Photo Credit: Rockstar Games
More Role-Playing Choices
Grand Theft Auto games have always allowed players to customise their characters to their liking, but GTA: San Andreas went above and beyond other games in the series to let players build up the protagonist, CJ. You could go to the gym and muscle up, learn new combat moves, get better at driving, cycling, swimming, shooting and pretty much everything else. Or you could be a slob, overeat and gain weight.
Rockstar has since not brought that kind of player freedom and role-playing choices in GTA games. In GTA 6, however, we’d like to see players given more control over their characters’ stats. Adding the ability to upgrade your skills over time would represent a meaningful upgrade over GTA 5.
GTA 6 will likely allow players to take part in hold-ups and robberies
Photo Credit: Rockstar Games
A Better Police System
The police system in GTA games has remained largely unchanged over several games. Depending upon the severity of your crime, you gain a wanted level represented by the number of stars. A one-star or two-star wanted level would bring a few cop cars on your tail that you can easily escape. A five-star wanted level would mean you going up against the full force of the police where surviving becomes a challenge. Once apprehended or “Wasted” you lose a small amount of money and then set free with little consequence attached to your actions.
Red Dead Redemption 2 saw a different kind of implementation of the wanted level, with a more complex system of witnesses reporting your crime and bounty hunters hunting you down. In GTA 6, we’d like to see some evolution of the existing police system in the series. Perhaps when you’re caught committing more serious crimes, the consequences could be more severe. The first trailer showed Lucia in prison, and key art from the game shows her wearing an ankle monitor. Maybe once set free after being caught for a crime, your character could have an ankle monitor restricting their movement. Integrating these new systems into the game would make committing crime, which lies at the core of a GTA title, a little more thrilling.
Lucia is seen at a prison in the first GTA 6 trailer
Photo Credit: Rockstar Games
More Flexible Missions
Rockstar Games has long faced criticism for extremely rigid mission design in its games. Be it GTA or Red Dead Redemption, a Rockstar title always brings an on-the-rails experience, with players forced to complete objectives in the way the developer wants them to. It’s all about map markers and waypoints and following instructions, and if you stray from the designated path even slightly, you’re likely to fail the mission.
In GTA 6, Rockstar must bring more flexibility to its mission design. The freedom players find in the GTA open world sandbox should be extended to the game’s missions, as well. Of course, a Grand Theft Auto game cannot have fluid mission structure like in an immersive sim, but players must get some degree of choice. In GTA 5, heist missions introduced the option to pick between two ways of doing a job, but these were mostly simplistic. GTA 6 must go deeper and provide more player freedom.
More Side Activities in the Open World
GTA games have always had a ton of things to do aside from the main missions. You could go on a date, go bowling, play golf, tennis, watch TV, take part in car races, and go to the strip club. In Red Dead Redemption 2, players could go to a theatrical stage show and even interact with the experience.
It would be great if Rockstar could add more side activities to do in Leonia and add a little more complexity to the activities themselves. The activities make the world of GTA games feel lived in and are an integral part of creating immersion. Including side activities in that game that require meaningful engagement and interaction from the player should be the next step for Grand Theft Auto games.
