Rockstar announces Grand Theft Auto V with maddeningly few details

Rockstar Games surprised just about everyone this morning by confirming the existence of Grand Theft Auto V, the latest in the company’s hit series of open-world games.

Rockstar announced the game by replacing its website with the GTA V logo, as well as the news that a trailer would be released next week on November 2. That’s it. On its Twitter account, the company posted a tweet that just pointed back to its website with no additional commentary.

Gamers have been eagerly anticipating GTA V for some time. Plenty of rumors emerged over the past year, including suspicious domains and casting calls, pointing to the game’s development. But today’s announcement is the first time Rockstar has acknowledged the game exists.

While I can appreciate the unique way Rockstar announced the game, I’m still left a bit cold by the company’s refusal to offer any additional details. Rockstar may have been better off just debuting the trailer and leaving gamers with their jaws open instead of hyping up the trailer for next week. Now expectations have been set, and Rockstar has an even more difficult task ahead to impress gamers.

Since Rockstar is being mum on the game, many are already trying to interpret what the GTA V logo represents. Some theories point out that the “V” in the logo resembles a $5 bill, which could hint that the game will take place in a city resembling Washington, DC.

Grand Theft Auto IV was a critical and commercial success for Rockstar and its publisher, Take-Two Interactive, selling over 22 million copies since its 2008 release.