Could Grand Theft Auto VI make it to Nintendo’s Switch successor?

The internet is buzzing after Rockstar officially dropped the reveal trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI trailer earlier than expected this evening. The trailer was originally slated to premiere tomorrow morning, December 5th, at 9 a.m. ET. It’s believed that low resolution leaks of the trailer that made the rounds this morning prompted Rockstar to surprise drop the GTA VI reveal sooner than originally intended. 

Now that the trailer is live, we know that the story will take place in the state of Leonida, including Vice City and beyond, the first time the setting has been utilized since GTA: Vice City Stories released on PSP in 2006. Speaking of Vice City, it was included in the release of Grand Theft Auto The Trilogy in 2021, which marked the first time that GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas were made available on a Nintendo console. GTA VI has been confirmed for Xbox Series X/S as well as PlayStation 5, but it begs the question: Will GTA VI make it to the next Nintendo console?

 

 

Though we don’t have confirmation from Nintendo of the graphical specs of the Switch’s successor, it would seem graphical power on par with current next-gen consoles will not be an issue. It’s suggested that Nintendo has shown technical demos of the next console behind closed doors at Gamescom this past fall and sent out dev kits to third party developers. Among the tech demos was a build of Final Fantasy VII Remake that was said to be running as well as, if not better than, the PS4 version of the game. Another was Epic’s The Matrix Awakens’ Unreal Engine 5 tech demo. If true, this is a significant step up from current Switch hardware. In addition to this rumored information, another rumor suggests that the Switch’s successor will utilize Nvidia DLSS for procedural upscaling from 1080p to higher resolutions. 

If graphical fidelity and smooth framerates are possible with the next Nintendo console, what would stop Rockstar from including GTA VI in the console’s lineup of games? Nintendo has seemingly become more lenient with allowing more mature third party games onto their roster of systems. Nintendo Switch has been home to cloud versions of the modern Resident Evil entries, Control and Hitman 3 as well as a frankly disastrous port of Grand Theft Auto The Trilogy. All of this in addition to Nintendo’s good faith with Ubisoft has allowed Nintendo Switch the best third party support a Nintendo console has ever had. However, with better technology potentially waiting in the wings, it isn’t difficult to imagine that even better relationships with third parties will be created. 

 

 

Finally, let’s talk about the types of games we see on Nintendo consoles nowadays. GTA VI will be a massive openworld game, Rockstar’s biggest and most ambitious to date. Such a game isn’t something we would have seen on a Nintendo system when GTA V released back in 2013. However, in the decade since, first party franchises like The Legend of Zelda and Mario have begun to embrace the idea of an open world-style format. Breath of The Wild and Tears of The Kingdom are well-known and successful Nintendo open world games. Bowser’s Fury was another successful experiment with introducing Mario to an open format style of progression mechanics. So, when GTA VI releases in 2025, it wouldn’t look out of place amongst Nintendo’s modern titles. 

All of this is to say that we have no idea what Nintendo’s forthcoming console will look like or how well it will perform. But we couldn’t help but wonder if it will be the first Nintendo console to feature a new Grand Theft Auto title at the same time as its competitors. It certainly would be good press for both Rockstar and Nintendo. We can only watch the days to come and hope for some new information. Until then, the GTA VI trailer is a sun-soaked, vibrant reminder of what future gaming has in store for us all. 

 

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