The next game Rockstar puts out after Grand Theft Auto VI won’t be one it developed itself. It’s a revival of an older series, and another studio is doing the work.
Rockstar has officially confirmed that it will publish the Max Payne remakes currently being developed at Remedy Entertainment. The remakes will ship together as one package on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. That puts them in line to be the next major release carrying Rockstar's name, even though the development is happening elsewhere.
An unusual, and welcome, Max Payne reunion
Max Payne and Max Payne 2 were both made by Remedy. Max Payne 3 was Rockstar’s work.
That means the series’ original creators are now remaking their own games for the studio that took the franchise over after them. How the remakes deal with that history will be worth watching, since the third game felt nothing like the two that came before it.
It’s also fitting that Rockstar’s lesser-known franchises are the ones getting called up now. Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead are what the studio is famous for, but it also owns quieter series that sold well, and one of those appears to be up next.
But first, the long road to GTA VI
It’s easy to understand why the next-game questions have already started. Grand Theft Auto VI arrives Nov. 19, following two major delays. It will be Rockstar’s first new game since Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018. The stretch since the last numbered entry is longer still: Grand Theft Auto V released in 2013, 13 years ago.
This may turn out to be the biggest game launch in history, and it’s still two months off. Even so, fans have already moved on to asking what comes after. (Considering how long Rockstar games take to make, getting a head start is understandable.)
The GTA Online question still hanging in the air
There’s a second contender for Rockstar's next big release, and unlike the remakes, this one would be built by Rockstar: a new GTA Online.
Rockstar hasn’t given a release date for the new version of GTA Online. At the moment, GTA VI is being marketed as a “single-player experience,” which suggests the online mode will be sold on its own as a separate standalone purchase. No timing for that has been announced.
To separate fact from expectation: Rockstar has confirmed both the Max Payne publishing arrangement and GTA VI’s single-player marketing. Nothing official states that GTA Online will be Rockstar’s next self-developed release after GTA VI. That idea comes from the online mode being absent at launch, not from any announcement.
Still, it’s a sensible assumption. As a single-player game, GTA VI should hold players’ attention for a long time on its own. But it was the online mode that kept people coming back over the past decade, so whatever Rockstar releases will face high expectations.
What this means for your time with the game
Taken together, two next steps look most likely. The Max Payne remakes are a confirmed project that Rockstar is publishing and Remedy is developing. A standalone GTA Online is the anticipated follow-up that Rockstar would make in-house, with no date attached.
Fans can only hope the online mode doesn’t lag too far behind the main game. Shipping GTA VI without it means millions of players will wrap up the story and then be left waiting.
For the moment, Nov. 19 is the only firm date on Rockstar’s schedule. Everything beyond it is written in pencil under “remains to be seen.”