After playing through the campaign of Grand Theft Auto V yet again, I began thinking of how truly great the game was. This led my mind to wander toward when we can expect another addition to the franchise. Unfortunately, that seems like it is a way off with the announcement of another re-release of GTA V (to the chagrin of many fans) for yet another new generation of consoles.
Despite this, I still could not stop thinking of the boundless possibilities for the franchise given the fact they’ve been able to absorb nearly seven years of feedback regarding their last product (as well as feedback from Red Dead Redemption 2) and having next-gen consoles to experiment with. While Rockstar has been pretty tight-lipped regarding the project, fans are eager to find out what the next title will look like, when it can be expected, and what the setting will be.
There are a plethora of cities and locales to choose from. Will a setting featured in an old game be revisited? Will it go somewhere new? Nobody knows, but these are the Top 5 locations I would like to see as the setting for the next GTA game.
5. London
This location is one that’s been talked about a little bit as a possible location for GTA VI, though past comments from former Rockstar head Dan Houser have shown that this is not likely. While London was a previous location in the series, it was only during additional mission packs to the original Grand Theft Auto game and that was released back in 1999.
A screenshot from GTA: London, 1969.
I do think London would be an interesting location to set the series, though it may have a lot of detractors. Yet, I believe London, and England as a whole, have plenty of things to satirize just as the United States does. It would be interesting to see more foreign vehicles, driving on the left side of the road, the metric system, and more, and how that all looks in a GTA game.
I also think a cool story could be crafted regarding the seedier sides of English crime and it would be neat to see what that might look like. It would be neat to see what missions could occur across the historic city and how that would affect the gameplay.
Again, I feel like this is not likely to happen as the series has always primarily focused on the American experience and it has always poked fun at that. This is a place that could be done, if done carefully and right, which I know Rockstar would be able to pull off.
4. Las Vegas (Las Venturas)
A snapshot of Las Venturas in GTA: San Andreas.
Las Vegas was another city already recreated by Rockstar in GTA San Andreas in the form of Las Venturas. This map was an interesting place in that significant city and another iteration of it could be made even better with modern gaming platforms.
Now, I will say that I don’t believe this will happen. With GTA IV taking place on the East Coast and GTA V heading to the West Coast, one can imagine that Rockstar will want to head back east for the next installment in the series. However, I think there would be a lot of space to expand on and improve the city of sin.
But in regards to this city, I just imagine Rockstar implementing a ton of mini-games or side activities players could lose themselves in while traveling through the Strip. There is also the opportunity to include more of the rural locale as well like in GTA V and show some more of that desert landscape full of interesting characters. While this setting might not be featured in the next installment in the series, it would still be interesting to see down the road.
3. Detroit and/or Michigan
Okay, so I am a little biased on this one, having recently moved to the state in the past year. With that being said, I do feel that there would be a lot of material to play with here.
A photo of downtown Detroit, Michigan.
Detroit is a city rife with culture and history. Likewise, it is a city with a laundry list of struggles leaving plenty of room for satirizing. From the auto industry bailout to the ailments of the local sports teams, there is plenty to poke fun at. Additionally, Detroit has historically been associated with high crime rates as well as corruption, which would serve as nice backdrop for the campaign story and something very wonderful could be crafted from this context.
This once great city is the perfect metropolis to really show the extremes of modern society with extreme poverty and destitution on one end compared with portions of the city being revitalized and the wealth of some areas in the greater Detroit Metropolitan Area.
In addition to the satire angle, Detroit is a diverse city with the opportunity to create a bunch of interesting characters. Also, the city is close to Canada and is a major port in the Great Lakes, allowing plenty of room for the creators to play with the water and lakes and all the gameplay that comes with that.
A photo of a Detroit Police mod in GTA V.
Finally, Michigan itself is a beautiful state, leaving the perfect opportunity to showcase other areas of the state for its “rural areas” of gameplay that we saw in the most recent game. I don’t think it is too far-fetched to say that this component—of having a large city as well as a more rural portion of the map filled with little towns—may now be a requirement for all future games, as fans truly loved this aspect of the game. Having the sprawling city as well as the small towns to wreak havoc in was pure enjoyment.
In Detroit, and in Michigan as a whole, I believe there is enough culture, corruption, history, and beauty to make one hell of a game.
2. Miami (Vice City)
While rumors remain unconfirmed, with the number of leaks and hypotheses surrounding the next GTA game, it seems that returning to the city of Miami, otherwise known as Vice City in the GTA universe, is the likeliest bet. Rockstar has previously mentioned how it already has constructed three great cities based on New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. Also, considering the past two titles have been based in New York and Los Angeles respectively, all indicators point to Miami being the next likely location.
A screenshot showing Rockstar’s recreation of Miami in GTA: Vice City.
Unconfirmed rumors have also posited the next game will focus on the drug trade and take place in Miami as well as a city based on Rio De Janeiro. With the last two entries taking place in modern times as opposed to a past decade like early games, I look for the next game to be a contemporary take on Vice City, though that is undetermined as well.
While each city certainly has its own tone and aura, a return to the sunny atmosphere and humorous undertones of Vice City would be a welcome one, as some consider GTA: Vice City to be the greatest GTA game to date.
While I never played GTA until later on in the series and have never played Vice City (yet), I feel that a modern update to this hailed city will be a welcome one. I’m eager to see if all those rumors of a return here are true and what that might look like on a updated console.
A player drives around in GTA: Vice City.
While this might be the most likely location for the next GTA game, I still have one more dream location I’d love to see come to fruition.
1.The Entire United States
While this is probably not likely, I think it is time for players to see what being involved in a crime syndicate with power on a national scale might look like. This idea first occurred to me when playing The Crew and I thought, “Wow somebody made a map of the entire United States for a game. That’s awesome. GTA should do this.”
As evidenced by The Crew games, the map isn’t to scale and is more of a “squished” version of the United States—however, with that being said, I still found it to be an incredible feat, proving other game developers would be capable of doing the same. In regards to GTA, there would be plenty to work with to encompass both the urban and rural locales of GTA V. As mentioned before, there has been a rumor that the game would in fact feature multiple cities with rural towns in between the two.
A photo showing the United States map as it is shown in The Crew.
I am aware that this might not be plausible due to past criticism of crunch within Rockstar and the massive undertaking this would be. But, for a moment, if this could be done with respect to a proper workplace environment, just picture what a map like this might look like and what the potential of the campaign and online content each might be.
Flying a plane on a mission from Liberty City to Los Santos. Driving down the coast to Vice City for a mission. Blowing up a meth lab in Appalachia. Discovering some shady elite’s ranch on the Great Plains. Every type of crook known to man, every NPC personality imaginable, and every governmental agency pursuing you and those involved in your shenanigans.
Maybe a game like this is far off and I just have 2050 Vision. Or maybe this will never occur. So be it. Who’s to say? Regardless of what Rockstar chooses, it will be great; but personally, I simply can’t think of a better way to go above and beyond—and to create the greatest open-world sandbox of all-time—than to let players wreak havoc in GTA VI as they traverse across the entire country.
Would you like to see any of these settings in the next GTA release? If not, what other places would you like to see the franchise go next? Feel free to comment on this article or post in the forums.
