GTA 6's original plot was reportedly so dark it got rejected thrice, pushing Dan Houser to exit Rockstar

Time of India

17-06-2025

Almost 13 years after the release of
Grand Theft Auto V
, fans are excited for the long-awaited launch of GTA 6, now set for May 26 next year, but behind the scenes of
Rockstar Games
' most anticipated release is a lesser-known chapter, one involving scrapped storylines, creative conflict, and possibly even the departure of the franchise's co-creator, Dan Houser, as per a report.
Original GTA 6 Storylines Were Much Darker
Video game company Rockstar Games, the publisher of GTA, reportedly had very different plans for Grand Theft Auto 6's story, as per a GameRant report.
GameRant cited a Medium post written by Fravilys, who made a claim that Houser once had different plans for the GTA 6 story that were ultimately scrapped in favour of the version that will be in the finished product, which is launching next year.
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Three Versions, All Cancelled by Take-Two
According to the report, the previous version of the GTA 6 story featured three playable protagonists that included an old Vice City police officer, police officer's son, and someone who was the "right-hand man" to a Colombian drug lord.
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Fravilys wrote that, "This original version was in development until the end of 2016 before being canceled by
Take-Two Interactive
. The parent company of the star-studded firm deemed it too dark, not meeting their expectations."
The second version of the game offered a less dark scenario, with two playable protagonists, a policewoman, who is the daughter of a Vice City cop looking to avenge her mother's death, and a drug smuggler, as per GameRant.
However, Fravilys said that even this new version, which was in development for about 18 months, was cancelled in mid-2018 by Take-Two.
Then in the third version of the game, the protagonist was changed, the policewoman was replaced with an African-American man, who was a former soldier, according to Fravilys. But this version was in development for only a few months as it was cancelled by Take-Two in March 2019, as per the report.
However, Fravilys's accusations are not verified, and GameRant says, "Fans should take these claims about previous versions of the GTA 6 story with a grain of salt."
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Dan Houser's Exit in 2020
After the rejection of the three different versions of the Grand Theft Auto V script, which was developed by Houser and his team of writers, Houser resigned from Rockstar Games in 2020, according to GameRant.
What We Know About the Final GTA 6 Story
While, GameRant's report has confirmed that GTA 6 will follow the story of Lucia and Jason as they get entrenched in Vice City's criminal underworld. GameRant wrote, "Lucia is freshly out of prison at the start of the game, while Jason is involved with drug runners and all kinds of other dangerous people. There has been some speculation that Jason may secretly be working for the police, but that remains to be seen."
FAQs
Why were the early GTA 6 stories scrapped?
According to the report, they were considered too dark or not commercially viable by Rockstar's parent company.
How many versions of GTA 6 were rejected?
Three major story versions were reportedly scrapped between 2016 and 2019.