Playing a new GTA means getting to dunk your head in the future. Only Rockstar operates at the highest heights without bending to the changing winds of shareholder and executive opinion. The company is unique in commanding the highest budgets and largest teams while retaining an authorial voice that enables it to lead the industry, rather than follow its trends.
When we finally play GTA 6 in 2025, we'll be treated to dozens of new innovations – some noisy, others subtle – that will catch Rockstar's peers off guard and leave the industry scrambling to catch up for many years afterwards. How do we know? Because that's exactly what happened last time. GTA 5 has lived as a contemporary game across three console generations because in many ways it was a full decade ahead of the curve. Here are just a handful of its smartest inventions.
