Anticipation of a newGrand Theft Autoappears to have reached a fever pitch over the past few weeks. Even thoughGrand Theft Auto Vhas becomethe most profitable entertainment product everand its Online mode continues to flourish and pull in yearly profits for Take Two and Rockstar, many fans are wondering when the next entry will be ready for the limelight. While there’s been no shortage ofGrand Theft Auto 6rumors and theories lately, the latest comes from a very surprising source.
According to TaxWatch UK, new insights may have been gained on the upcomingGrand Theft Auto 6. Rockstar North, the UK based studio behind theGTAseries of games, filed its financial accounts which also reveal a massive increase in claims for government tax relief bonuses from the Video Games Tax Relief program. The report indicates that the latest claim by Rockstar North was specifically related to production costs ofGrand Theft Auto 6. Since claims are made before a game launches and related specifically to money spent on production, it appears that GTA 6 will cost far more than its predecessor which came in at $137 million.
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Ultimately, the company has paid no UK Corporation Tax for four years straight even thoughGrand Theft Auto Vhas continued to pull in massive amounts of revenue. In 2019 alone,Rockstar claimed £37.6 million in tax relieffrom the government, which pushes its grand total to £80 million and over a quarter of all relief claimed since the program started in the United Kingdom.
When the Tax Relief program was introduced, the government estimated that the cost wouldn’t go over £35 million per year and ultimately help smaller developers flourish. However, the program cost is now up to £100 million per year and the smaller developers have not shown up as the government thought. In addition to Rockstar, only Sony, WarnerMedia, and Sega actively use the program.
Naturally, this situation hasraised concerns and criticismsfrom outlets like TaxWatch in the past. The company has been able to avoid paying taxes in the UK, claiming relief from the government all while continuing to rake in billions of dollars in profit. The way the company has been able to maneuver around the tax credit system is by gettingGrand Theft Auto 5certified as “culturally British” from the British Film Institute (BFI). This is a point which many, like TaxWatch, disagrees with.
Regardless of the financial situation,Grand Theft Auto 6may just be Rockstar’s most ambitious entry in the long running series yet. The most recent leak seems to indicate that the next game will feature a brother and sister as the main protagonists and is set within the 1980s and 1990s. If that’s not enough,the game will feature three citiesincluding the return of Vice City, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Bogota, Columbia. As exciting as all of this may people, fans are cautioned to take these details with a grain of salt until Rockstar officially announces its plans for the next Grand Theft Auto.
Grand Theft Auto 6is rumored to be in development for unspecified platforms.
