A report has revealed that Rockstar Games apparently scaled down its initial plans for Grand Theft Auto 6, reducing the total number of playable characters in the game to two. Rockstar officially confirmed that GTA 6 was in development earlier in 2022, with multiple new reports shining light on aspects of the anticipated sequel's development.
News broke the other week that Grant Theft Auto 6 would have a duo reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde as its playable protagonists. This would allow players to play as a female character in a Grand Theft Auto story for the first time since 1997's original entry on PC, where four of the eight protagonists to choose from were women. So far, in the 3D era of Grand Theft Auto, players have only had the opportunity to play as women in GTA Online - where they can create and customize their own characters.
Axios’ Stephen Totilo (via PCGamesN) followed up on these Grand Theft Auto 6 reveals and was informed by his sources that Rockstar's original plan was to have four playable protagonists - which would have been one more than GTA 5's trio of Michael, Franklin, and Trevor - but the team had to scale things down to streamline development. There has been no news as to who these extra two characters were or how they would have tied in with GTA 6's Bonnie and Clyde-esque story, or if the story itself changed as a result of the reduced number of playable characters.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Setting - Why It's Reportedly Miami At Launch
Grand Theft Auto 6's location is also something that is reported to have been scaled down massively. The game is allegedly set to take place in one city at launch, a fictional version of Miami, which sees a return to Rockstar's take on Florida since Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, but this was not always the plan, as Totilo reported that earlier plans for GTA 6 covered three cities. This matches with Bloomberg's report that claimed Rockstar was working on the upcoming title under the codename Project Americas, and the aim was to include territories modeled after large swaths of North and South America. Although Miami will be the only location at launch, the report stated that future updates could add more locations after release.
News of Rockstar scaling down elements of Grand Theft Auto 6 is unsurprising considering the rumors of a troubled production and purported project resets surrounding the title. It does sound like Rockstar's streamlining of its massive crime game could lead to a tighter narrative, with two close characters in a relationship like Bonnie and Clyde's providing a chance for some strong character development along the lines of Red Dead Redemption 2's often sad story.