GTA 7 Setting "Revealed" Before GTA 6 Is Even In Our Hands

6 days ago 15
GTA 6's protagonists in front of an aerial view of a beach. Custom Image by Lee D'Amato

Ewan is Deputy Editor for ScreenRant's gaming section. He still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase, and knows more about The Legend of Zelda and Doctor Who than is probably healthy.

Ewan oversees the content operation of ScreenRant's gaming output, working with a talented team of writers and editors to cover everything from the latest GTA 6 news to the indie games you need on your radar. 

Former Editor of GAMINGbible, Ewan also has words at Kotaku, Den of Geek, NME, and UNILAD. He's appeared on various podcasts, including VGC's and BBC's Let's Talk About Tech. 

There are a fair few things we ended up getting before GTA 6 that I never expected. A trailer for The Witcher 4. The return of the Virtual Boy. Two console generations. Hollow Knight: Silksong. The list is pretty substantial, honestly.

One thing I truly never expected we'd get before GTA 6, however, was confirmation of GTA 7's location. Okay, so this isn't technically official confirmation, but this is a pretty big reveal that narrows things down for the next next Grand Theft Auto. Which, you know, probably won't release until 2042 at the earliest. Best not to think about that right now though, eh?

Where Will GTA 7 Take Place?

We can tell you where it won't take place

GTA 6 horizon opening shot from trailer 1

As I'm sure you probably know, most of the Grand Theft Auto games take place in fictional cities and states inspired by real-life US locations. GTA 6's Vice City and Leonida are based on Miami and the state of Florida, for example. Libery City is New York City, and Los Santos is Los Angeles.

The only time Grand Theft Auto has taken place outside of America is with 1999's GTA: London. Since then, it's been as American as apple pie.

It should come as little surprise, then, that GTA 7 is set to continue this grand tradition and remain in America. That's according to Obbe Vermeij, a former techincal director at Rockstar who worked on various Grand Theft Auto projects over 14 years. His credits include Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA 4. While Vermeij left in 2009, his prediction should certainly carry some weight.

Speaking to GamesHub, Vermeij explained why we won't get a GTA 7 set outside of America any time soon.

"It's just not realistic. I would love it and if games still took a year to make, then yeah, sure, you can have a little fun, but you're not going to get that when there's a GTA every 12 years. You're not going to set it in a new location. You don't really need to either, because the technology changes so much. Nobody is going to say that they're not going to play GTA 6 because they've already played Vice City. That doesn't make sense. It's completely different. They'll revisit New York again. They'll go back to LA or maybe Las Vegas. I'm afraid we're stuck in this loop of about five American cities. Let's just get used to it."

We Still Need To Play GTA 6 First

Let's hold our horses

Before we get too excited (or angry) about what is effectively informed speculation, let's remember we still have GTA 6 to play before we can even start to think about GTA 7. And, given how long Rockstar Games milked GTA 5 and GTA Online, if you think we're realistically seeing the next Grand Theft Auto anytime soon, you're living in your own fictional state: delusion.

GTA 6 officially releases November 19 this year, unless the game gets delayed again, which definitely isn't impossible. Let's just take it one day at a time.

grand-theft-auto-vi-tag-page-cover-art-1-1.jpg

Released November 19, 2026

ESRB Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+

Engine Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)

Multiplayer Online Multiplayer

Read Entire Article