How GTA 6 could benefit from a modern-day setting

According to some sources, GTA 6 could take place in the present day. This has caused a schism among fans, as many of them expected a retro setting instead.

Fans have diverse opinions regarding the timeline the next game should be set in. Some believe that it would benefit from a modern-day setting while others feel a return to the past is necessary. We look at how a modern-day setting could be good for GTA 6.

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A retro setting would limit features in GTA 6

Tom Henderson's leaks have suggested that GTA 6 will be set in a present-day Vice City. This certainly makes sense where multiplayer is considered. There are several things that are only possible in GTA Online because it takes place in the modern day.

A major change introduced by GTA 4 was the usage of mobile phones and the internet in the game world. This has been carried on in GTA 5 as well, and the empire-building aspect depends heavily on the in-game internet.

Players have become habituated with these services in GTA 5 and GTA Online for almost a decade. A jump to the past would mean ditching all of these features.

The game has even adopted futuristic elements that essentially categorize the game as science fiction. This wouldn't have been possible had it been set in the past. Hence, multiplayer would be a major reason for a modern timeline in GTA 6.

Henderson has also claimed that the next game will involve cryptocurrency. This feature too would only be possible if GTA 6 is set in the present. It would certainly be a worthy counterpart to the stock market introduced in GTA 5.

Another thing to consider is the amount of customization the last game introduced. While vehicular customization isn't something new, GTA 5 was the first game in the series where players could modify their weapons.

If the next game goes back to the past, this feature would also feel lacking. That's because the vast amount of weapon modifications that are possible today would not be available in the eighties or nineties. Even vehicular modification would suffer, as a lot of modern upgrades weren't available back then.

A retro setting for GTA 6 would also mean a reduced variety of vehicles. GTA Online features a plethora of rides, including modern, classic, as well as futuristic ones. Such variety might be hard to pull off if the game is set in the past.