GTA 7 timeline mapped by Rockstar, the scene has been set

Rockstar has outlined a rough map for the next game it has in development, and it won't take as long as GTA VI took to make.

Grand Theft Auto VI marks Rockstar Games' first release in eight years, with its last launch being Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018.

Since then, the company has done a few smaller projects like the GTA Definitive Edition remasters and L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files on PSVR. But even six years after the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, GTA VI will be the publisher's first major release this generation.

For those already looking forward to Rockstar's next game after this though, whether that's GTA VII or something else entirely, it seems that fans won't have to wait as long in order to play it.

Rockstar has casually mapped out how long the next project may take to release, confirming that it shouldn't take another eight years for players to be able to get their hands on it.

Read More: PlayStation Plus issues November free game update early to get ahead of GTA 6

Rockstar Games is sure it won't take another eight years to make the next game

In a story published by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Rockstar's leaders confirm the company's next release won't take another eight years, and that development on GTA VI has led to a foundation where new content can be built at a faster pace, whether that's for a future GTA game or something else entirely.

“The engine, the tools and the team we’ve built during this project will allow us to do things more quickly,” says Rockstar's Phil Hooker. “I feel confident that we can build on top of this and go more sideways than upwards to build more compelling content.”

Schreier notes that this could lead to projects similar to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which was released a year after GTA III because it was built on work that was already done.

“We foundationally changed a lot of stuff on this project,” Rockstar's Aaron Garbut says of GTA VI. “But now it’s done, and we’re not going to rip it apart.”

It's probably unlikely that Rockstar's next project will be GTA VII, as the company has always released at least one other major game between its GTA games. Between GTA IV and GTA V, it launched Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, and Max Payne 3, while between GTA V and GTA VI it released Red Dead Redemption 2.

Rumours of what the next Rockstar game following GTA VI could be range from Red Dead Redemption 3 to an L.A. Noire sequel, but there's no telling what it might be in reality.

Rockstar tends to be pretty secretive about what it's got working in the pipeline, and unlike The Elder Scrolls VI, only tends to make announcements when it's ready to actually show something off.

Read More: GTA 6 PC release window leaks as Rockstar learn from Red Dead Redemption 2 error