Insider Gaming, a site founded by the well-known leaker Tom Henderson, reported an intriguing rumor suggesting that the story of GTA 6 was rejected three times by Take-Two, and the prospect of starting over led to Dan Houser’s departure.
According to information provided by Fravilys, which should naturally be taken with a grain of salt, the first script was a detective story worthy of a thriller, focusing on three different protagonists. This project was carried on until the end of 2016, but at that point, Take-Two vetoed it, deeming the plot “Too dark and did not meet their expectations.”
The second version of the script involved two protagonists: a policewoman and a “Drug smuggler’s underling, as crazy as Trevor from GTA V. This iteration remained in development for eighteen months, but then Take-Two intervened again, canceling everything and ordering a reset.
The third prototype was similar to the second, but with one important difference: the grieving policewoman was replaced by an African-American man, a former soldier, released from prison and falling into the criminal underworld. This script was canceled in March 2019, according to the source.
Is There Any Truth to This?
The delay of GTA 6 might have burned an enormous amount of money for the video game industry, but we know that the game’s development has indeed continued for quite some time, so the rumors just reported seem at least plausible.
However, it’s unlikely we’ll ever know the full truth: rejecting a script or doing a complete project reboot are fairly common occurrences in the video game industry, and it’s normal for a major production like GTA 6 to be subjected to strict scrutiny.
