GTA 6 May Follow Red Dead Redemption 2's Footsteps if One Rumor Holds True

Highlights

GTA 6 is a highly anticipated title with a dual protagonist storyline for Jason and Lucia.
Rockstar’s past titles hint at betrayal and trust issues in the plot.
GTA 6 is set in South Florida, aiming to be a technical showcase and expand GTA Online.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is one of, if not the most anticipated titles set to launch in 2025, and Rockstar’s legions of fans have speculated endlessly on what the game will entail since long before its reveal trailer at the tail-end of 2023. With the prospect of a dual protagonist storyline for GTA 6, there is some credence to the theory that Lucia and Jason will inevitably face an irreconcilable crossroads akin to the rift that fractured the Van Der Linde gang in Red Dead Redemption 2.

GTA 6 will be Rockstar’s first game since 2018, and its first entry in the GTA franchise in just over a decade. Given RDR 2‘s nuanced attention to detail and unparalleled fidelity through enhancements to the studio’s in-house RAGE engine, the stage is set for GTA 6 to be one of the most impressive technical showcases in gaming’s history. Based in a fictional version of South Florida, its debut trailer gave a glimpse into a world that has captured the region’s zeitgeist through the lens of Rockstar’s trademark sardonic satire.

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GTA Online’s newest update includes a surprising reference to Rockstar’s highly-anticipated upcoming entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.

Lessons in Criminal History that GTA 6 Should Learn From

As paramours and partners in crime, the debut of Jason and Lucia as GTA 6’s main players has oft drawn the comparison of Bonnie and Clyde. While their portrayal may tread similar ground, up to and including its tragic end, Rockstar’s past narrative precedent could veer wildly down a different path. GTA 5 juggled a three-protagonist structure aptly, and though the canonical ending has them all riding off into the sunset, the player is given the option for a divergent ending where either Michael or Trevor are stabbed in the back.

More recently, RDR 2 features a slow-burn dissolving of trust between Arthur Morgan and Dutch Van Der Linde, culminating in a vicious betrayal between a band of thieves that had been like family beforehand. Betrayal is a resonant and powerful plot device, and though GTA 6‘s trailer paints Lucia and Jason as inextricably linked, that relationship may be severed by the game’s outset.

In the crime thriller genre, backstabbing is a common trope. It is a safe bet to presume GTA 6 will feature at least one betrayal over the course of its story, but whether that comes at the hands of a side character like Darko Brevic in GTA 4, or one of the main cast such as Dutch in RDR 2, is up in the air. Beyond the romance and a shared instinct for criminal enterprise, the depths of Jason and Lucia’s relationship were not explored by GTA 6‘s trailer, and if the first act of the game includes the origin of their entanglement, it might be foreshadowing some third act treachery.

GTA 6 Needs to Set Itself Apart

A screenshot from GTA 6 — Image via Rockstar

Another hint that may be considered grasping at straws is the trailer’s introduction of Lucia, who appears to be recently out on parole. In the clip, she stares plaintively out her cell window, transitioning to a conversation with who is presumably her probation officer. That plot point could just be written as a signifier of Lucia’s criminal acumen, but it could also be the caveat that creates the rift between her and Jason at some point in GTA 6′s plot.

Whether Jason and Lucia eventually turn on one another, or stick it out through thick and thin, the sneak peek of GTA 6‘s beautifully irreverent world has left its fans anxious for more. The months leading to its eventual release will shed some light on how its story will unfold, as well as its ambitious plans for the next iteration of GTA Online, but until then, the only leads to go off of are the patterns of the studio’s past titles.