Grand Theft Auto is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time, with scores of titles across countless systems. It's seen a wide variety of different protagonists, and yet there's one glaring absence that lingers over the series.

Rumors about Grand Theft Auto 6 have been circulating for quite a while, and a new report from Kotaku confirms a new GTA is in the works, albeit with a more restrained scale. Now the question is how GTA 6 will follow up on the most successful game of all time.

Related: What GTA 6 Can Learn From Red Dead Redemption II

To start with, GTA 6 should star a female protagonist, a big move that could help push the series forward, if it's done correctly. It's something that honestly should have happened before now.

Grand Theft Auto Has Never Had a Female Main Character

Official GTA 5 art of Michael, Trevor, and Franklin look into a car's trunk

To this day Grand Theft Auto has never had a female protagonist, or really any female in any kind of leading role. Though GTA 1 did allow users to select female avatars, there was nothing substantial behind this choice. Women in GTA games most often get relegated to side characters or centerpieces, and the series has a troublesome history with its portrayal of women. Despite this problem in the core series, GTA Online does let players create a custom female character. With the player freely having the option in GTA Online, it's disappointing that the story-based content of GTA still suffers from such poor representation.

In recent years games, in general, have started doing a better job with some serious standout characters like Lara Croft, Aloy in Horizon: Zero Dawn, Senua in Hellblade, and more. Yet, there's still a long way things could go, and the biggest crime-focused franchise having a strong female lead would be a big step forward.

A Female Protagonist Would Be an Interesting Change

Part of what makes GTA so interesting is that each game's story tends to do something different or interesting; like how GTA V features three separate protagonists. The next game having a female protagonist would allow Rockstar to feature a different kind of story, or at least approach things differently. With the hyper-masculine focus out of the way, there'd be a lot of room to develop interesting characters or tell a diverse story, something that'd only benefit the series in the long-run.

Even other Rockstar games have featured strong female characters that became fan-favorites. The most obvious is Sadie Adler, a major character from Red Dead Redemption 2. There's so much more that Grand Theft Auto 6 could do by changing up its protagonist, and it'd be truly disappointing to see Rockstar do the same old thing again.

Next: Grand Theft Auto 6 Online Needs An Evolving World

09/02/22 Updated to clarify that GTA 1 did have women avatars to select, though they were not fully-fleshed characters.