GTA 6 set to change Rockstar forever with first female lead, claims report

The future of Rockstar Games and the Grand Theft Auto series is set to change in a big way with the lead character in GTA 6 set to be a female of Latino heritage. 

This huge detail was revealed in a major report from Bloomberg (paywall) that broke down the culture of Rockstar Games in recent times, and how the company has been trying to improve upon its work environment. It's here that it was noted that GTA 6 will include a playable female protagonist for the first time in the history of the series.

The woman will be one of two leading characters in a narrative that is said to take influence from the infamous US bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde. Considering how the Grand Theft Auto series has approached women in the past, often as nothing more than used for sex purposes, the studio is seemingly taking a different approach. Developers are also been careful to not "punch down" with jokes aimed at marginalised groups, again a major change for the blockbuster series.

Furthermore, the report explains how Rockstar has gone from "a boys' club transformed into a real company" with staff saying that morale has been higher than its ever been. As a result, it was noted that development on GTA 6 has slowed. A bigger factor in this was attributed to the pandemic. With all the changes at the studio, it's believed that GTA 6 will feel much different than the games that came before. 

Another aspect of GTA 6 – codenamed Project Americas – is said to be the map. This will be a fictionalised version of Miami (Vice City?) and its surrounding areas that will gradually be updated over time, something rumours have pointed to for quite some time. Fortnite was always an example mentioned whenever these rumours emerged. Rockstar aims to add new missions and new cities with more interior locations planned than GTA V.  

Finally, it was revealed that following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, Rockstar scrapped a Grand Theft Auto Online mode that was known as 'Cops n Crooks'. This was described as being similar to the children's game where players organise into teams of good and bad guys. The mode is not expected to return in future.  

Earlier this month, Rockstar provided its first update on the production of the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, saying that "more development resources" will now be pushed towards GTA 6 with Red Dead Online content set to end as a result.

The most recent game to come from Rockstar was next-gen versions of GTA V on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, taking advantage of both console's capabilities. Check out T3's Grand Theft Auto V review to see if it's worth revisiting Los Santos. 

To find out more, head to the official T3 GTA 6 hub for the latest news, rumours, leaks and everything else.