Although GTA 6 has taken a whopping 13 years to come to fruition following Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar promises that shouldn't be the case with GTA 7 or any other future projects, as it's got everything it needs to get 'em out more quickly.
Phil Hooker, technical director at Rockstar, tells Bloomberg as much during a new interview, explaining that the foundation developers have built while creating GTA 6 – an entry that's arriving over a decade after predecessor GTA 5 launched back in 2013 – will help them work more efficiently on any future projects, like Grand Theft Auto 7.
They've got a solid team, engine, and "tools" to use, after all, as Hooker says.
"The engine, the tools and the team we've built during this project will allow us to do things more quickly," he describes. "I feel confident that we can build on top of this and go more sideways than upwards to build more compelling content."
Artist Aaron Garbut agrees, chiming in, "We foundationally changed a lot of stuff on this project – but now it's done, and we're not going to rip it apart." And, honestly, why would they?
There's no telling what "things" Rockstar will do "more quickly," whether that's GTA 7 or a smaller spin-off like Vice City, which was created in under a year after GTA 3 itself, but it's good news regardless.
The wait between Grand Theft Auto games has been a gruelling one, to say the least, marred by widespread layoffs and delays, so hearing that we might not have to witness another like it comes as a welcome report.
Here's hoping this all rings true and GTA 7 – or whatever Rockstar has up its sleeve after GTA 6 – arrives in under a decade, or perhaps even five years… but I might be jumping the gun, considering how huge the new Grand Theft Auto seems.
