Rumors are swirling about the return of chainsaws in GTA 6.
In the video gaming universe, the anticipation for Grand Theft Auto 6 is a force of its own, with fans eagerly dissecting every scrap of information, rumours, leaks, and the elusive corporate silence from Rockstar Games.
Recently, we've had a new round of information suggesting that the upcoming game could see, among other things, the resurrection of chainsaws, a weapon that has been notably absent from the franchise for over 14 years.
Sayan Saha, a 2D/UI designer formerly employed with Rockstar Games, was spotted adding a mysterious yet tantalizing footnote about GTA 6 to his LinkedIn profile. Though swiftly deleted, it didn't escape the sharp eyes of quick-thinking fans who captured the bio before its retraction.
Before updating his profile, Mr. Saha's snippets suggested he worked on over "500 in-game 2D assets for GTA VI", including more than 25 "unique brands". What really grabbed fans' attention, though, were references to items like chainsaws, fire extinguishers, and electric boards as well as boat motors and car engines.
What adds fuel to this speculation is the fact that the last time chainsaws appeared in the series was in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, released in 2009. Fans fondly remember its debut in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as an homage to Scarface, a film that influenced the game's design and narrative. With leaks suggesting a return to Vice City, the timing for the chainsaw's comeback seems opportune.
Rockstar Games is infamous for its protective veil of secrecy surrounding GTA 6. Saha's brief, and now vanished, revelations align with this strategy. It's presumed that Saha's public profile update triggered an intervention by Rockstar's PR team to maintain their tight grip on the game's details.
Despite this tactical silence from Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive, fans remain undeterred in their quest for information. It's expected that more details will continue to emerge from every conceivable corner of the Internet.
As for the highly-anticipated official reveal of GTA 6, Rockstar Games is keeping its cards close to its chest. It remains unclear when the company will finally break the suspense. The gaming community's predictions for the release date range from 2024 to 2025, but official confirmation is still pending.
While fans are still in a dilemma whether to take these revelations at face value, one thing is clear — Rockstar Games' decision to stay mum about the game is only serving to fuel the anticipation. This approach, intentional or otherwise, is cementing the place of GTA 6 as the most eagerly awaited game of all time.
Curiously enough, this is the first time that someone outside of Rockstar referred to the in-development GTA game as GTA VI. You could argue that this is the only time someone that worked on the game referred to it as such. Keep in mind that Rockstar has only referenced GTA 6 to confirm that it's in development, to acknowledge the leaks, and to justify why Red Dead Online is going off to the sunset. For all intents and purposes, GTA 6 doesn't exist — only a new GTA game that Rockstar is working on does. Thus, Rockstar hasn't even begun marketing GTA 6 yet, which is the exciting part.
Given the amount of hype surrounding the next installment in the best-selling franchise, it's exciting to imagine how the internet would break once it's presumably nonchalantly announced on Rockstar's social media accounts.
