Launched in September 2013, Grand Theft Auto V was an instant hit for Rockstar Games and its publisher, Take-Two. At the end of its run, it landed as one of the best-selling games of all time and the biggest-ever entertainment media product based on revenue. Ten years after its release, Take-Two was rolling in a pool of some $8 billion from GTA V alone.

So, of course, the sequel was always going to happen, but the longevity of its online mode allowed for the development of the second game to take its time, in a sense. Online, GTA required regular updates and events to uphold its already lofty appeal, but it did allow a smaller portion of the development team to keep it relevant while the rest piled into Grand Theft Auto VI. Now, we know that GTA VI and its inevitable online playground is on the way.

Grand Theft Auto Online to get a reset

Perhaps the one certainty about Grand Theft Auto Online will be its reset. Players may be able to carry a bit over from GTA V’s online, but most likely, the new playground will be played with new characters. The glut of Take-Two’s over $8 billion in GTA V earnings came from the online mode’s microtransactions, which were kept relevant by the regular expansions and updates.

One of the biggest and most long-awaited was the Diamond Casino & Resort. Being a very adult-centric game, it makes sense that the addition of a casino would draw in the masses. Casino games are globally renowned and remain popular through their accessibility. You only have to look as far as the online blackjack casino to see how many variants of this one kind of table game are needed to meet demand.

As it turns out, people enjoy gambling with virtual money in GTA just as they do online for real money and in live games. The release of the casino update many, many years after GTA V launched caused a 23 per cent uptick in player spending, showcasing just how popular it was. Heists, import and export, the motorcycle club, and gunrunning also highlight the slate of updates unfurled for online players. Given how successful the strategy was of timely drip-feeding new features and events, it’d make sense for GTA VI Online to do the same.

It’ll all begin with the core story of GTA VI

Grand Theft Auto V released without an online mode, with that being launched – with its fair share of technical issues – a couple of weeks later. It gave players plenty of time to complete the core story, romp around Los Santos, dig into all of the extra tasks and collections to be found across the massive map, as well as see how long they can last on a rampage against the authorities.

We know that Grand Theft Auto VI will focus on at least two main characters, with them being Lucia and Jason. Lucia – the first female main character of the series – is set to be the central protagonist, with her forte being armed robbery in a kind of Bonnie and Clyde partnership with Jason. With heists being such a popular part of GTA V and GTA V Online, these robbery runs are bound to be a hit.

Next, the big selling point is a return to Vice City, but being a new, massive game, GTA VI will go far beyond the neon-lit metropolis. Rather than being set in the 80s, this return to the city will apparently be in the current time of the series. Vice City is the selling point, but the game’s setting is said to expand to the state of Leonida, of which the iconic city is just a part. There’ll also be areas that essentially draw from rural Florida, such as the wetlands.

There are many details yet to be revealed for GTA VI, but given the run of the series so far and the success of GTA V, we can all but guarantee that its launch and multiplier expansions will follow the same blueprints as its predecessor.