A single image of a house in the remastered version of GTA: San Andreas has sparked fan speculation that it is, in fact, the first screenshot of Grand Theft Auto 6.
Posted on GTA Forums, the image is found among photos on the wall of San Andreas' UFO-themed Lil' Probe'Inn and, somewhat appropriately, has kicked off a new conspiracy theory – that Rockstar has surreptitiously tucked the first image of GTA 6 into its latest remasters.
The image, which you can see in the tweet below (both as an in-game screenshot and an artificially uprezzed version), simply shows a front-on view of a nondescript house, albeit with a UFO hanging above it. The intrigue comes from the fact that even the most ardent GTA fans can't seem to locate where that house model has come from.
Another #GTATrilogy mystery hunt. The Lil' Probe'Inn has an unidentified house amongst the UFO photo display… GTAVI? (jk) (or am I, where is this from?)
Credit to ArthurZussman, mussefar03 and mrcharhead for these images.
Discussion source: https://t.co/F4uXihZS9v pic.twitter.com/1iHP1jiQML
— Kirsty 🍂 (@kirstycloud) November 16, 2021
The high quality of the visuals in the image means fans don't think it comes from GTA Trilogy itself, but the house seemingly can't be found inside GTA 5, either. That's inevitably led to discussion around where the image has come from, and why Rockstar would include it – especially in a room full of UFO references, famously one of the GTA series' hotbeds of fan theory-crafting.
Previous rumours have suggested that GTA 6 could return to a Miami-inspired setting, and GTA Forums user igrobar tracked down a real-life house in Boca Raton (located just north of Miami) that bears striking similarities to the screenshot. Rockstar is known for reimagining real-life buildings inside its fictional cities, and fans have latched onto the idea that this image is a concrete hint to the setting.
As enticing as all this is, it's of course nothing more than speculation at this point – the image could just as easily be unused concept imagery, environmental testing, or simply an image made or repurposed for the game. We've contacted Rockstar for comment.
Whether it's an image of GTA 6 or not, it seems we have a long time to wait to actually play the game. While we know it's in development, recent reports have suggested the game will launch in 2024 or 2025, which somewhat tallies with Take-Two preparing for a major surge in big game releases. We've also heard that Dr. Dre is making new music for GTA, and that Rockstar has been working on some impressive-sounding NPC tech.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].