GTA 6 Was Canceled Three Times, Causing Dan Houser to Leave Rockstar, It’s Claimed

A new leak has revealed that Take-Two Interactive wasn’t keen on the first three incarnations of GTA 6 and canceled the game multiple times. After the third idea was rejected, the enormity of the project and rebooted work allegedly caused Dan Houser to leave Rockstar Games.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is the biggest video game ever, and it’s not out for another year. But when it’s eventually released, it will be a landmark occasion. A recent leak has suggested we might be lucky to be getting GTA 6 at all, as the game has been through a tricky development cycle.

GTA 6’s Story Was Rejected by Take-Two Multiple Times

Fravilys (through Medium) has claimed that there have been “three different versions of the GTA 6 script.” The text is translated, and we’ve done our best to communicate the leak accurately, so bear with us if it’s not perfect.

Fravilys said the first pitch for the story was a “Detective story, worthy of a thriller, centered around three protagonists.” There was a lot of steam for this pitch, and it was “in development until the end of 2016.” Ultimately, Take-Two vetoed the project and cited it as “Too dark and did not meet their expectations.“

Story two switched to two protagonists—a policewoman and a “Drug smuggler’s underling, as crazy as Trevor from GTA V.”

This version was in development for 18 months! Unfortunately, this too was eventually canned by Take-Two, it’s claimed. A third prototype was born in a similar vein to the second story pitch, only: “The grieving policewoman was replaced by an African-American man, a former soldier, released from prison and falling into the criminal underworld.”

This was canceled in March 2019. Dan Houser had a break from GTA 6 before deciding to “Step down and temporarily relinquish his duties as Vice President of Creative.”

A lot of this needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. But if it’s true, it explains why it’s taken so long for GTA 6 to see the light of day. Do you think GTA 6 will be worth the wait and live up to Take-Two’s reportedly sky-high expectations? Let us know via the Insider Gaming forum.

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