The Wedbush analyst describes a GTA VI mixing several cities and Europe. Rockstar confirmed nothing, and what came later proved him wrong about the map.
Sources wccftech.com
Analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities described on 8 March 2022 an immense GTA VI that would take players across several countries. According to Wccftech, he says the long development time, which he places as starting between 2014 and 2015, comes down to the game's scale. He speaks of "my understanding", citing no source. This is an analyst's statement, not information from Rockstar.
Per Wccftech, Pachter says the game would combine places from several entries: Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City, and Europe, London "for sure". Missions would take the player from London to Los Angeles, with drugs to carry and a stop at the port of Miami. He talks of a "four or five hundred hour game" by release, and development of "ten years or more".
Pachter is not inside the studio: he follows markets. Wccftech also notes that at the same moment other analysts read Take-Two's financial forecast as pointing to a possible release in fiscal 2024. The 500 hours have no public basis. For comparison, a big open world is finished in a few dozen hours, and the rest is lifespan. Such a figure reads more like a formula than a measurement.
Rockstar said something else. The first trailer in December 2023, then the second in May 2025, presented a single state, Leonida, around Vice City, with Lucia and Jason. No London, no Liberty City, no San Andreas in the announced map. The game is out on 19 November 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, preload on 12 November, PEGI 18, €79.99 standard and €99.99 Ultimate. The Goodtime State collector costs €399.99 without the game, GTA VI: The Album is out the same day, and no PC version has been announced. The dates are gathered on the release page.
For the map, nothing changes: the state of Leonida was the right perimeter, and Pachter was wrong about the destinations. This statement mostly recalls what an analyst is for in a rumour cycle: he amplifies what he hears without being able to prove it. In 2022, "500 hours" ran in headlines. The reader is better off keeping "according to him" than the number.
Sources wccftech.com
By Lara Rivolet · VI Countdown newsroom, OKALAM Studio