It is one of the best-selling and most beloved video game franchises out there, and there are no secrets as to why. Grand Theft Auto has been offering gamers an outlet for psychotic tendencies since the release of the first game all the way back in 1997. Since then the series has gone on to sell over 250 million copies and has brought controversy with it for every new offering.

The first few top-down games were entertaining for their time, but by the release of 2001's Grand Theft Auto III, we were ready to enter the realm of 3D gaming, and tore up Liberty City as Claude the mute. Vice CitySan Andreas and the duo of Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories added to the lore of the awesome crime-ridden mess that makes up this gaming franchise.

The HD universe came next with the 2008 release of Grand Theft Auto IV, which took us back to Liberty City for a lot of unwelcome bowling invitations as Niko Bellic. The most recent of the series, number five, was one of the most expensive video games ever created. The game won dozens of awards, and for every award it took home, it infuriated at least one frightened, confused activist, and was the subject of an article calling it the work of pure evil. For those who played it, we know it was incredible, but between the single player mode and GTA Online, we're wondering, "what can they do next?"

15 Destructible Environment

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Obviously, given that there will always be some buildings that are essential to the plot of a GTA game, a completely destructible environment might be completely unrealistic, but perhaps having some buildings crumble if you hit them with explosives or another powerful weapon is possible. In the recent games, there have been some environmental elements that can be destroyed, but not entire buildings.

The biggest concern with regard to implementing a gaming environment that can be leveled if the player wants is whether they system can handle it while also running everything else required for that game. If this game isn't out until 2020, there is great potential for this on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox One X.

14 Create Your Own Character

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Obviously, GTA Online has allowed players to customize characters, but for the purposes of the main story line, we have yet to see it in a GTA game.

One of the best ways to start a game off with an immersive edge is to allow people to customize their own character. Whether one tries to make the character look like themselves, or just tries to make a unique one, is up to the player, and allows for a more personal experience. While there has been the ability to choose clothes and a hairstyle since the post-Claude games, actually deciding what your character looks like and coming up with a backstory for the character have yet to be implemented. While aesthetic customization is purely for the sake of each player's personal preference, allowing the choice of backstory could add to the options throughout gameplay in the same way as was done in the Mass Effect games.

13 VR Compatible?

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There is no shortage of gaming franchises that sound just slightly better with the added immersive effects of virtual reality technology. There are a few ways in which VR could actually add to the experience of playing a GTA game, and a couple of reasons we are skeptical of this potential development.

We imagine that firefights could somewhat benefit from VR, and we could opt for a first person view much like what PS4, Xbox One, and PC users could do in GTA V rather than the constant third-person system. Driving would likely allow for an awesome experience, but only for those who already enjoy the experience of driving with an inside the car view. We imagine that the visuals, which are always pretty good in GTA games, will also look great in with VR capability. Also, just walking or driving around in-game would be so much more immersive, allowing players to hear people talking, and the sounds of the city as if they were really there.

12 More Role Playing Possibility

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I personally find it difficult to nitpick when it comes to Grand Theft Auto games. Growing up with the series and having enjoyed every minute of the games, the infrequent negative aspects of gameplay (glitches here and there and some poorly designed missions) don't seem to be worth complaining about when considered within the grand scheme of the series. But looking closely at each game, while there is ample freedom of movement and some freedom in completing missions and ordering them, there is little opportunity to chose how to play the game in a role-playing facility. Obviously, at the end of GTA V, you can choose to kill Trevor, Michael, or neither of them and instead hunt down your common enemies, but that was pretty much it. One of the most intriguing rumors about the next game is that we'll be able to pick what side we play for.

11 More Protagonists Or Back Down To One?

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Both of these rumors exist. Neither one will be proven correct until the project is much closer to completion, but for now, it is an interesting debate regarding whether the franchise should return to a single protagonist or continue with the GTA V model of letting us play as three of them. While anyone can come up with reasons why one is better than the other, it all comes down to taste, and whatever Rockstar decides to do, we doubt anyone will be too bent out of shape over three or more protagonists. It's hard to imagine any fans of the franchise not buying this one because we have to play as one person like we did pre-GTA V. 

10 PlayStation Only?

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This is an older rumor, and one that actually goes back to 2014, when this game was just an idea in the heads of a few people at Rockstar. The notion of exclusivity is one that often rears it's ugly head when dealing with upcoming big name games. From time to time, even recently, there are rumors floating around online that the next Grand Theft Auto game will be released exclusively for the PlayStation 4. Don't worry, of the rumors we're discussing in this list, exclusivity ranks among the least likely. It would likely take more money that it is worth for either Sony or Microsoft to work out some kind of exclusivity deal for GTA VI. We feel it is safe to file this rumor in the "not going to happen so don't worry about it" drawer until further notice. If a reputable source (you know, the developer) publishes information saying the game will be exclusive to one console, then you should believe it.

9 Celebrity Voices?

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The history of celebrity voices in Grand Theft Auto games is an interesting one. In the two games that take place in Vice City, Garey Busey was the voice of Phil Cassidy, the crazed gun nut who blows his arm off in a "Boomshine" related mishap. Actor Ray Liotta was the voice of Tommy Vercetti. The list of celebrity guest voices goes on and on and includes James Woods, Danny Trejo, Jenna Jameson, Ice T, Ricky Gervais, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Two actors are rumored to be involved with this project; Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes. Some sources have implied that Mendes will be the female protagonist, and that Gosling will be her partner (they are also married in real life).

We imagine that these rumors mean next to nothing, and as is the case with any creative piece of work, but the possibilities are nearly endless given the constantly improving technology involved with game creation.

8 We Might Have To Wait Until 2020

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We know one thing that is an absolute certainty, and that is when we won't be playing Grand Theft Auto VI. It will not be 2017. This isn't news to anyone, as Rockstar is focusing on the Wild West with Red Dead Redemption 2 (scheduled for spring 2018), which will likely be unbelievable in it's own right. With regard to GTA VI, however, some sources have tried to suggest that 2018 is a possibility, but given the usual wait periods between games (2008 until 2013 between IV and V and 2001's initial PS2 release until 2008 between III and IV), five or six years seems reasonable to expect.

Depending on some of the other rumors we're going to discuss, many of which sound like they will require extensive work, the most reliable estimates as to the arrival date seem to indicate 2020 is the likeliest year. Obviously, it could take longer, but we'd rather not think about that.

7 The Map Will Be The Entire USA?!

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Here is one of the reasons the game may take a while to complete. There are some whispers online about possibly making the map for this game something larger than GTA fans have seen before. Remember Vice City? Incredible game, no question, but the map was undeniably small, especially compared to San Andreas which came out a couple of years later, offering us three cities and multiple regions of wilderness. Of course, GTA V offered much more of the same, with far more detail, but imagine a game that features not only San Andreas, but also Liberty City, Vice City, and maybe a few others thrown in for good measure.

We've seen a few amazing maps in the past few years, including series like Fallout, Far Cry, Just Cause and The Crew (just for a few examples), but if Rockstar were to try to do something similar for GTA VI, we'd be willing to wait a bit longer.

6 A Return To Vice City

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There are a few different rumors swirling around detailing possible locations for the game, and one of the most intriguing is Vice City. There are obvious reasons for this being an attractive idea. The most obvious of these is the fact that Vice City is one of the most fondly remembered GTA games out there. Tearing through that city as Tommy Vercetti to the amazing guitar-heavy tunes of the 1980s while essentially reenacting the greatest moments of Scarface minus getting shot in the back with a shotgun at the end was too much fun to not want another game in this city. Furthermore, it makes sense to have a game in Vice, given that there are three major areas in the 3D universe: San Andreas, Liberty City, and Vice City. Liberty and San Andreas have been revisited in the HD period, now it is time to let us loose in GTA's own Miami.

5 Heading To Other Countries?

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As most of us know, most of the Grand Theft Auto franchise has taken place in a fictionalized version of the United States. The exceptions to the rule are a pair of 1999 expansion packs released in 1996, which took us to London. Since then, the games have been all about the U.S. of A. While the rumor that the next major installment in the series might be set outside of the United States has pretty much been laid to rest, it could happen. Don't misunderstand, it almost definitely won't, but there is always some potential for a single mission or set of missions to take place elsewhere. We do know that Rockstar employees have traveled to places including Tokyo, for the purposes of possibly planning a game, and we also know that certain trademarks have been filed for game titles including GTA: Bogota and GTA Tokyo.

4 A New Time Period?

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We already mentioned how awesome the experience of playing Vice City was. Part of that was due to the Scarface theme and the iconic Miami scenery, but the feeling of living in the 1980s, between the style, music, and cars also added to how awesome this game was. On one hand, another current-era game like GTA V would obviously be welcome, but one popular rumor is that the game might take place in the 1970s. Much like the 80s, this decade had a style and feel all its own, and would make for amazing gameplay. It has been suggested that GTA VI could be a prequel to another game, possibly Vice City or Vice City Stories, but given that these are in the 3D universe and we are now into HD, this makes no sense. Either way, the rumor exists that the next game will take place in the 70s, a decade that this franchise has pretty much forgotten.

3 Another Iconic American City

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One of the biggest questions prior to the release of any GTA title is the setting. The setting is something that can be toyed with. We have mentioned a few times that there are a few set iconic GTA cities: Liberty, Vice, and Los Santos (San Andreas). Based on the fact that everyone is gunning for a new Vice City game, and Rockstar doesn't want to be predictable, that could be reason enough to take the next title elsewhere. The internet has picked up on this and here are just a few possible American cities that have been thrown around as ideal locations: Houston, Seattle, Chicago, and even Philadelphia. These cities might be great ideas if they were looking at sticking with one main city as they did with GTA V. They could also opt for Las Vegas or even San Francisco (Los Venturas and San Fiero in San Andreas). These two have been done, but played a small enough role in that game that they could be expanded for a full title as was done with Los Santos in GTA V 

2 New Gunplay Mechanics?

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Okay, so we'll have to admit here that this rumor is nothing new. Practically every time a new GTA game comes out, people are asking whether the tired old "auto-aim and pull the trigger" gunplay will be improved or replaced. While we love the series (it's incredible, how can you not?), there is no denying that the shooting could use some "freshening up." GTA V did a decent job of taking the existing mechanic and making it a bit more user-friendly, but at the end of the day, they polished a turd. They have the potential to change this, and the idea of importing some of what makes the gunplay in Red Dead Redemption so outstanding into the next GTA game has been floating around the forums for a while now.

One has to imagine if the online community has thought about it, so have the magnificent minds at Rockstar. There is a chance that GTA VI will be the end of poor shooting mechanics in the series.

1 Female Protagonist?

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Now because these are all rumors, some completely fly in the face of others. Earlier we mentioned a couple of points about protagonists and whether we would be able to make our own (one character among many) and whether the future of this series would take us back to a single-protagonist format or continue with a trio like GTA V.

For the purposes of that game, Rockstar's Dan Houser said that a female protagonist wouldn't have worked for the fifth installment but that the creative staff of the company weren't against the idea. Rockstar has consistently come under fire for featuring exclusively male protagonists, and female characters with little or no substance. We could see this going either way: an awesome female main character thrown into the mix (if we don't get to build our own character), or Rockstar keeps the male protagonists coming just to continue to infuriate those pockets of the internet that probably wouldn't buy this kind of game anyway.

Are there any awesome rumors about GTA VI that we missed?