(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Fans of the Grand Theft Auto franchise finally got to lay eyes on the much-anticipated trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI — 10 years after the launch of its predecessor, which became the second-best-selling video game of all time and was hailed as one its generation's best games.
The game won’t be released until 2025, but the video game world has been buzzing ever since the trailer leaked on social media and prompted publisher Rockstar Games to release the teaser ahead of schedule. Carl Prouty, the technologist at Abt Electronics in Glenview, joined WBBM’s Rob Hart on the Noon Business Hour to explain the excitement surrounding the trailer.
“For [Grand Theft Auto V] to have come out a decade ago and still be as massive as it is now just speaks to how much people like it,” he said. “I think having to wait 10 years for the next version is only going to make that anticipation go through the roof when it actually gets released.”
Although Rockstar Games and its parent company Take-Two Interactive Software neglected to provide any other details about the leak, fans of the game were able to learn a few things from the 90-second teaser.
For one thing: Grand Theft Auto VI will be set in the Miami-inspired Vice City and star a female protagonist — a first for the franchise — named Lucia.
While a specific 2025 date hasn't been disclosed from Take-Two yet, industry analysts still predict the game will arrive in the first few months of the year, based on the company's “commentary around bookings expectations” of just under $8 billion for the 2025 fiscal year.
Prouty said the company won’t be the only one that stands to gain from Grand Theft Auto VI. That’s due in part to the fact that the game has only been announced for the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S.
“If you have an older system and you want to play this newer game, you’re going to have to buy one of the newer systems, it sounds like,” he said. “Nothing’s really set in stone yet, but that’s sort of what all the rumors are pointing to.”
And unlike blockbuster movies, which make the the majority of their money in the theaters, Prouty said video games can generate revenue long after its initial launch.
“Not only are you buying the game, buying the new console, but … you use money within the game,” he said. “If you want to buy a house in the game, you can either do missions to earn money that way or you can buy something — they call it a ‘Shark Card’ for this particular game — but you can use your real money to buy money in the game, so it’s generating revenue in that way, as well.”
The 2025 release date is later than some anticipated, including researchers at Raymond James & Associates, and at Tuesday’s opening bell shares of Take-Two Interactive fell about 2%.
“While investors are likely to be mildly disappointed in the precise timing, and we expect a slight down move in the stock as a result, this does not change our thesis on the anticipated scale of the release when it does hit shelves, which remains potentially massive,” the Raymond James analysts said. “It is simply a shift rather than a reduction in expectations.”
The first Grand Theft Auto hit store shelves back in 1997. Its soaring popularity lead to multiple sequels over the years — with much anticipation (and sometimes long waits) between each installment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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