The GTA 6 hype is now really starting to build, with a brand new leak from Rockstar's official website hinting at just what sort of spectacular graphics and gameplay the incoming title could deliver.
How spectacular? Only "skyscrapers crashing to the ground" spectacular, with an official job listing for a VFX Artist at Rockstar New England detailing the role entails crafting some truly awesome next-gen visuals.
Detailing what the artist's role will entail, Rockstar says that:
"We help to bring extra life to the environment, characters, weapons, vehicles, and more. The visual effects help to immerse the player in a believable world, from using ambient effects for things like insects around the player and rain dripping off buildings up to large scale destruction events like skyscrapers crashing to the ground. Our technology is used to tie the world together; weapons create bullet impacts, vehicles kick up dirt and smoke and leave debris when they crash, objects get dirty when the fall in mud."
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What's more, in the specific responsibilities for the role it also details that the artist will create a "wide range of high quality particle effects" and will optimize assets for "next-generation consoles".
Now, what is important to note at this point is that while it is widely leaked and accepted that the game Rockstar is currently working on is GTA 6, this job listing does not mention GTA 6, instead simply saying that the role "is a full-time permanent position based out of Rockstar’s unique game development studio in Andover, MA."
This artist could therefore technically work on GTA 6 as well as other gamers, or simply other games, never touching GTA 6.
However, when you list all the details delivered in this job's description, it all but screams GTA 6. The artist after all will be bringing to life "characters, weapons [and] vehicles", as well as using "vast networks of data" to deliver things like "bullet impacts" and allowing "vehicles [to] kick up dirt and smoke and leave debris when they crash".
The artist will also be working on "ambient effects for things like insects around the player and rain dripping off buildings up to large scale destruction events like skyscrapers crashing to the ground."
Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds incredibly like a GTA game to me. In fact, that's pretty much GTA ground to a tee.
These details also touch on things we've heard in previous GTA 6 leaks, too, including what advanced AI it could have, evolving seasonal map and much larger in-game world.
All of which points toward this role being for GTA 6. And that means it looks like gamers should be looking forward to a visual tour de force on PS5 and Xbox Series X, with the next GTA delivering spectacular graphics and gameplay the likes of which nobody has seen to date.
I'm more excited for GTA 6 now than ever before, so here's hoping we get our first official glimpse of the game sooner rather than later.
From a personal point of view, though, I'm hoping that GTA 6 delivers specific upgrades to the usual Grand Theft Auto experience, including better written female characters, enhanced customisation in terms of character home, a less pervasive cartoonish tone, better AI and a larger open world map with more interiors.
Because, the truth is that as ground-breaking as GTA has been over the years for view game development, it does still have plenty of room to get better, at least from an artist point of view. There's no denying how successful the series has been, and GTA V has set sales records and made Rockster a lot of money, but that doesn't mean it's perfect.
Rockstar has been making GTA games for a long time now and I see GTA 6 as the perfect title to really evolve what the series can be and is known for. Here's hoping it comes true.
