Now that GTA 6 is mere weeks away, one emerging question is what Rockstar will go for next. The studio has multiple series it could return to; Red Dead Redemption 3 seems an obvious choice for the future, but according to a reliable leaker, LA Noire 2 is first on the studio's docket.
This particular bit of information is actually a few years old, stemming from a round of leaks from a user on 4chan back in 2023. They posted a number of titbits surrounding GTA 6 and Rockstar's plans that were then reposted on unofficial messageboard GTAForums.
For what Rockstar's looking at beyond the sixth mainline Grand Theft Auto, apparently the company's looking at going back to some detective work. A sequel to LA Noire is slated, heading to San Francisco to look for the Zodiac Killer.
At the time, the leaker predicted a release window of at least 2030, and aspirations of this being a standard-setter visually. I can safely imagine the latter, but even 2030 seems optimistic now. Supporting GTA 6 will take the lion's share of Rockstar's manpower through 2027 and probably 2028 as well, not leaving much room for another full-on release.
Many of the mechanics they mentioned for the new Grand Theft Auto turned out to be accurate, such as the dynamics between Jason and Lucia, where you decide how romantically involved they are through your choices. The accuracy of their predictions definitely lends some credence to their mention of LA Noire 2.
Rockstar's owner, Take-Two, even suggested LA Noire would be on the table for what's coming up. "There’s nothing to announce on LA Noire specifically, and if there were, it would be Rockstar announcing it, not me," CEO Strauss Zelnick said at the iicon event in April. "But in any case, with regard to our legacy IP, the teams are always looking at what we have and we’re always thinking about it."
It's now been 15 years since the first game, a noir-y detective sim where you have to rumble a drug ring that's infested the local police department in 1940s Los Angeles. It was an ambitious, charming project, and there's plenty of ground for a potential revisit. We'll see what emerges.
