EXCLUSIVE: GTA HEADS TO SAN ANDREAS!
Take-Two trademark registration bonanza leads to startling GTA revelations: Grand Theft Auto 6, anyone?
18:39 US publisher Take-Two Interactive went on a pre-Christmas trademark registration spree, the products of which point us tantalisingly towards the likely name of the next instalment of the massive Grand Theft Auto series.
On December 17 2003, Take-Two - parent company of GTA publisher Rockstar - registered three GTA trademarks, we can reveal. Crucially, the trademark "GTA: San Andreas" was registered on this date under the Goods and Services category as "Computer game programs and software and computer game cartridges".
On the same day, Take-Two also registered trademarks for "GTA5" and, significantly, "GTA6". You can see the full details of the registrations by visiting the US Patent and Trademark Office website by clicking here and entering the above terms into the trademark search engine.
The title of the next GTA game has been the subject of fevered speculation for months; earlier this week a listing on UK online retailer Amazon.co.uk suggested GTA 4: Sin City, but this has subsequently been found to be incorrect.
San Andreas has been favourite on the rumour for some time, however, it being the only city remaining from the original game which hasn't been reworked in 3D; and this recent trademark registration is by far the strongest hint yet that this is indeed the final name for the title.
Those of you with long memories may also recall that we reported back in January of last year (see here) that a Rockstar employee had registered the domain names
www.gtasanandreas.com and
www.grandtheftautosanandreas.com. "Meh, beginning to stick, the mud is," as Yoda might say.
Before we collapse into paroxysms of excitement over GTA5 and GTA6, it's likely that GTA5 is an alternative name for GTA: San Andreas, in the way that Vice City is, technically, GTA4. GTA6 on the other hand seems likely to be the code name for the true sequel to Grand Theft Auto III, the game that changed the face of gaming forever.
This title, the development of which we exclusively revealed way back in February of last year (see here), will release on the next generation of console hardware, still some way off.
We contacted Rockstar for comment on these trademarks, but a spokesperson was unavailable at the time of writing. The next GTA title is due for release on PS2 by the end of 2004, with Microsoft sources insisting intense negotiations are taking place to secure the release of an Xbox version a short while after. A PC version is also likely.
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