If Rockstar Games decides to set Red Dead Redemption 2 and the original Red Dead Redemption, both in an effort to inject new gameplay and stakes and to finally tie the two series together in an official manner. While the late 1800s and early 1900s may not seem like the ideal setting for Grand Theft Auto 6, the lack of available cars to steal could actually benefit the game instead of hindering it.
While it's unlikely the many next Grand Theft Auto game will take place in multiple cities - but more isn't always better.
Areas like the countryside in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and the desert in GTA 5 have been criticized for being too empty and lacking interesting things to do. Over time Rockstar Games has grown better at finding ways to fill the overworld with interesting activities, thanks in part to the original Red Dead Redemption's introduction of Stranger Missions, which added interesting NPCs and somewhat randomized missions scattered around the map. Grand Theft Auto 4, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Red Dead Redemption 2 all feature Stranger Missions as well, but the map for Grand Theft Auto 5 was still so big the developers included a fast-travel feature which allowed players to jump between different protagonists if they were bored of their current situation. GTA 6 players don't need a bigger map - they need a denser one.
GTA 6: A Past Setting Can Make Stealing Cars Important Again
One of the biggest problems with Grand Theft Auto 5 is that stealing cars feels incredibly unimportant. Because of the series' focus on open world exploration and player freedom (exemplified in its most basic mechanic of allowing people to hijack nearly any vehicle currently being driven with the press of a button) the actual criminal act of Grand Theft Auto doesn't amount to anything more than an easy way to get around GTA's map. If Grand Theft Auto 6 was set in 1912, one year after the main events of the original Red Dead Redemption, cars would still exist but be much, much harder to procure.
In this theoretical Grand Theft Auto 6 Vice City setting, most people would travel around the islands on horseback. Because this is still one year before Henry Ford would open his Model-T assembly line, boats and carts would be much more integral to GTA 6: Vice City's gameplay, but throughout the game's story time could to allow more and more vehicles on the roads (and the evolution of the roads themselves) as the automobile industry begins to take over. This would actually provide a very interesting potential story arc for Grand Theft Auto 6's main playable character, whoever they happen to be.
GTA 6: Vice City's story could begin in 1912, opening just like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City did with a meeting at the docks. Instead of a cocaine shipment, however, players could be tasked with delivering Vice City's very first automobile to its owner, likely the city's mayor or some sort of law enforcement officer or politician - someone with important and dangerous connections, ideally located on the other side of Grand Theft Auto 6's map so players can get a good feel for the vehicle en route. Just like in Vice City, GTA 6's opening deal would then go bad at some point, and the city's newest prize could be stolen - the first recorded case of Grand Theft Auto Vice City has ever seen.
Recovering this vehicle could compose of GTA 6: Vice City's first story act, and then the game could jump forward to 1914 (a year after the Model T Ford became to be produced and sold with record speed) to show the impact of automobiles on Vice City's economy and topography. By showing both the before and after of what Grand Theft Auto 6's setting looks like, players would have a strong sense of connection to the game's map and an understanding (and respect) of the vehicles themselves. Red Dead Redemption 2 was a massive success for Rockstar, and Grand Theft Auto 6 is arguably the company's most anticipated title ever, so it just make sense at this point to bring them together in some fashion, and by setting GTA 6 in Vice City in the early 1900s Rockstar could possibly please all of their fans at once.
