If you're a fan of Grand Theft Auto 5, there's a good chance you're currently obsessed with GTA Online's latest DLC, “A Safehouse in the Hills.” This DLC brought back Michael de Santa after over a decade and also confirmed which of GTA 5's three main endings is the canonical one.
Anyway, unless you're a fan of GTA Online, you're probably just waiting patiently for Grand Theft Auto 6 and hoping there won't be a third delay like many people.
However, thanks to some dataminers, it looks like “Hideout on the Hill” isn't just a random one-off update for GTA Online. Instead, available information suggests that work has been underway for some time, starting at least September 2024.
According to what Rockstar Games superfan Ben discovered, the effective date is September 23, 2024. It also seems like there could be more to come, or at least there's hope for that scenario.
Whether that's ultimately true remains to be seen. However, some in the GTA Online community believe that “Safe House on the Hill” was intended to serve as the final “big” update before GTA 6.
How GTA 6's delay affects the gaming industry
The overall release schedule changes with each GTA 6 release, so how will the latest delay affect everything else?
However, the delay in GTA 6 may have split everything in half to provide content to help make up for any shortcomings.
As my colleague George Foster wrote earlier today, some GTA Online fans are similarly convinced that Rockstar has discovered a “backport” feature in GTA 5 that was originally intended for GTA 6.
Yes, there's a lot of “GTA (insert name or number here)” in this article. I'm not the only one who wishes there were easier naming conventions like San Andreas or Vice City.
Notably, it appears that the towel featured in one of the trailers for GTA 6 has been released in GTA Online. This is a very realistic looking towel.
The existence of gyms and the ability to exercise also seems outdated.
It's unclear whether Rockstar is experimenting with features in real time and soliciting feedback for features that will be released next year, or if they're experimenting with a combination of the two. It is clear that there is more to “Hideaway on the Hill” than meets the eye.
- released
-
September 17, 2013
- ESRB
-
M Rated for adults 17+ due to blood and gore, intense violence, mature humor, nudity, strong language, excessive sexual content, drug and alcohol use
- developer
-
rockstar north
Tomb Raider's double barrel return is either a stroke of genius or doomed to fail.
Crystal Dynamics is taking a big risk with Lara Croft's latest comeback.
