Grand Theft Auto 6 is understandably taking almost all the attention right now, but Rockstar Games will eventually have to look beyond Vice City.
With GTA 6 currently scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026, Rockstar is preparing for its first major new release since Red Dead Redemption 2 arrived in 2018. That eight-year gap has been filled with ports, remasters, GTA Online updates and projects such as Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition.
But what happens after GTA 6?
Some of Rockstar’s future is already known, while the rest remains much more uncertain.
GTA 6 Is Rockstar’s Immediate Priority
There is little doubt about Rockstar’s main focus for the remainder of 2026.
GTA 6 will launch on November 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, bringing players back to Vice City as part of the much larger state of Leonida.
Expectations surrounding the game are enormous. GTA 5 became one of the biggest entertainment releases ever, while GTA Online turned the franchise into a platform that Rockstar has supported for more than a decade.
GTA 6 therefore isn’t simply another release for the company. It could become the foundation of Rockstar’s plans for many years.
That also means players probably shouldn’t expect Rockstar to immediately move on to another huge single-player game.
GTA 6 Online Could Be the Next Major Step
The most obvious project following GTA 6 is its online component.
Rockstar has spent years supporting GTA Online, making a successor or expanded online experience alongside GTA 6 one of the most important parts of the franchise’s future.
However, the single-player game remains the immediate focus.
If the online component arrives separately after launch, Rockstar could use the additional development time to establish GTA 6’s world before introducing its long-term multiplayer ecosystem.
A standalone release would also make sense considering how GTA Online has evolved beyond being a simple multiplayer mode for GTA 5.
For now, though, Rockstar has not fully detailed how the next generation of GTA Online will work.
Max Payne Is Already Coming Back
GTA isn’t the only Rockstar-associated franchise currently moving forward.
Remedy Entertainment is developing remakes of Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, with Rockstar Games involved as publisher.
Rather than releasing the games separately, the two remakes are being developed as a single package.
The project is planned for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
There is also plenty of history behind the collaboration. Remedy originally created the first two Max Payne games before Rockstar Vancouver developed Max Payne 3, which launched in 2012.
The remakes give Rockstar another major release to publish without requiring its primary development teams to immediately produce another enormous open-world game after GTA 6.
Detailed information about the remakes remains limited, however, and there is still plenty we don’t know about how extensively the original games will be changed.
Could Red Dead Redemption 3 Be Next?
This is where things become much more speculative.
Red Dead Redemption 3 would be one of the most obvious candidates for Rockstar’s next massive single-player project.
Red Dead Redemption 2 became one of Rockstar’s most successful games and remains highly regarded years after its release. From a commercial perspective, returning to the franchise would hardly be surprising.
But Rockstar has not announced Red Dead Redemption 3.
Even if development eventually moves forward, Rockstar’s increasingly long development cycles mean another Red Dead game could still be many years away.
There is also the question of where the story would go.
Red Dead Redemption 2 already served as a prequel to the original game, leaving Rockstar with several possibilities. It could move further backwards in time, follow different characters or potentially explore an entirely new story within the Red Dead universe.
Until Rockstar says otherwise, however, Red Dead Redemption 3 remains speculation.
What About Bully 2?
Then there is Bully.
Fans have been asking Rockstar to return to Bullworth Academy for years, and reports surrounding abandoned or shelved Bully projects have kept hopes alive.
A smaller-scale game such as Bully 2 could also provide an interesting change of pace after the enormous production behind GTA 6.
Rockstar doesn’t necessarily need every release to feature a gigantic map and a decade of online support.
A more focused project could allow the studio to experiment with ideas that wouldn’t necessarily fit into Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption.
Unfortunately for Bully fans, there is currently no confirmed Bully sequel.
Smaller Rockstar Games Could Fill the Gap
One of the biggest questions after GTA 6 will be whether Rockstar continues its current development strategy.
The gap between Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 6 shows just how long modern Rockstar projects can take.
If every new Rockstar game requires close to a decade of development, releases from the studio could become increasingly rare.
Smaller projects could help solve that problem.
Rockstar owns a huge catalogue of franchises that haven’t received new entries in years. Bully, Midnight Club, Manhunt and even Max Payne demonstrate just how much history exists beyond Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption.
That doesn’t mean those franchises are returning, but Rockstar certainly has options if it wants to diversify its output.
GTA 6 Could Keep Rockstar Busy for Years
The biggest obstacle to predicting Rockstar’s future is GTA 6 itself.
GTA 5 originally launched in 2013 and remained commercially relevant across three console generations. GTA Online dramatically extended that lifespan.
If GTA 6 follows a similar path, Rockstar could still be heavily focused on Leonida well into the 2030s.
Post-launch updates, an online ecosystem, potential expansions, new platform releases and an eventual PC version could all keep development resources tied to GTA 6.
That makes Rockstar’s next major single-player release difficult to predict.
Rockstar’s Future Is Bigger Than November 19
For now, Rockstar’s roadmap has one very obvious destination: GTA 6.
After that, attention will likely shift toward the game’s online future, while Remedy’s Max Payne remakes give Rockstar another major project to publish.
Everything beyond those projects remains far less certain.
Red Dead Redemption 3 would make commercial sense. Bully 2 remains one of the most requested sequels in Rockstar’s catalogue. Smaller games could also provide some much-needed variety between increasingly enormous GTA and Red Dead projects.
But Rockstar has yet to reveal its hand.
Once GTA 6 finally launches, the question will quickly change from “When is GTA 6 coming?” to something Rockstar fans haven’t seriously needed to ask in years:
What’s next?
