the Official GTA blog

The map was posted on a thread at Neogaf by a user named Mideon but was later removed. It was captured before he removed it from the forum and made its way to several websites.

One of the websites called Techradar has said that  “a source close to the development of the new Red Dead game has confirmed to us the map is indeed the real deal.” According to the site the image is “a very recent art direction map.”

Although, Fraghero cannot independently verify their claims but it seems to align with what we reported earlier in the year that the game was well into its development cycle. The image of the map features the Great Plains, and it’s the same area where Blackwater was located in the first game.

Interestingly, there are several more locations in the map, mostly islands, indicating that the player will be able to traverse to them using either a boat or other means on water transportation.

The game is apparently a prequel to Red Dead Redemption and the map suspiciously lacks any railroads, which were commonplace in Red Dead Redemption. It is to be noted though that the map infact has ‘railroad’ in its key.

The map also feature another are called New Bordeaux, which is the same area where Mafia 3, an upcoming game by Rockstar’s parent company Take Two Interactive, takes place. The game’s timeline is 1968.

Rumors and reports have increased in recent times suggesting a new Red Dead title being in development. Although Take-Two has never confirmed its existence, its CEO did make a statement confirming that it’s obvious that both GTA and Red Dead are permanent franchises.

While Rockstar’s highly successful Grand Theft Auto franchise has seen the cities of New York, LA, San Francisco and Miami recreated, fans were actually very close to having the next city in the series set in the neon-clad metropolis of Tokyo, Japan. For Grand Theft Auto VI, apparently Rockstar staff went as far as traveling to the city for location scouting and atmospheric research (interviewing locals, visiting viewpoints, etc.) but ran into a number of problems that would factor into the production of the game. These conflicts included a difficulty in navigation due to the Japanese’s complex road systems, a disconnect from the “culture” of GTA, and even the brands already associated with the title not fitting into the Asian environment. The game would thus also compete against other open world crime-based games such as the Yakuza titles which are set in Tokyo as well.

Good news however: GTA VI will seemingly take advantage of the current generation of gaming consoles’ hardware limits by producing a new engine for stunning visuals, quick action gameplay and an even more expansive environment to that of the already-gigantic Grand Theft Auto V.