Ex-PlayStation President Thinks Only GTA 7 Can Be Bigger Than GTA 6

Grand Theft Auto VI, launching next month, has every chance of becoming the most ambitious video game ever made. Its budget is estimated at over $2 billion, and Rockstar Games is believed to have revealed only a fraction of what the game actually offers. That's naturally sparked speculation about whether anything could ever top it in scale.

One idea is already gaining traction: maybe only GTA 7 could outdo GTA 6. That's the view former Sony president Shuhei Yoshida shared on The Vergecast, arguing the sixth game's scope could be so massive that no one else will realistically compete with it anytime soon. He also floated the idea that a seventh installment might not arrive for another 15 years or so, by which point it could match the hype and even surpass GTA 6's scale.

That's a bold prediction, but it's worth remembering how Red Dead Redemption 2 took everything GTA V established and pushed it further. It's a safe bet Rockstar's next project will build on whatever GTA 6 introduces too, even if not every single mechanic ends up improved across the board. Rumors have circulated for a while that Rockstar's quietly working on Red Dead Redemption 3, and more recently, reports have pointed to a possible L.A. Noire sequel set in San Francisco, claimed to be targeting a release in 2030.

That said, several upcoming games could still rival GTA 6 in their own ways over the next few years, The Witcher 4 in terms of open-world scope especially, or Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, drawing on Naughty Dog's reputation for detail, as seen in The Last of Us Part II.

As for GTA 7 itself, we're likely talking more than a decade away. Former Rockstar developer Obbe Vermeij has previously claimed the studio will eventually return to Liberty City (from GTA IV), as well as Los Santos and Las Venturas (from GTA V and San Andreas), something fans have already latched onto as a possible hint at where the seventh game might be set.

Grand Theft Auto VI will release on November 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.