Rockstar Games has sent the internet into meltdown overnight with the announcement of the first trailer for the "next Grand Theft Auto", which will be released in December.
However, a simple four-line statement from Rockstar Games' founder and president Sam Houser does not once mention the words "Grand Theft Auto 6" anywhere.
It is widely believed the next game will be the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, with fans left frothing at the mouth at the possibility of what's next for the extremely popular gaming series.
"Next month marks the 25th anniversary of Rockstar Games," Houser said.
"Thanks to the incredible support of our players worldwide, we have had the opportunity to create games we are truly passionate about - without you, none of this would be possible, and we are so grateful to all of you for sharing this journey with us.
"In 1998, Rockstar Games was founded on the idea that video games could come to be as essential to culture as any other form of entertainment, and we hope that we have created games you love in our efforts to be part of that evolution.
"We are very excited to let you know that in early December, we will release the first trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto.
"We look forward to many more years of sharing these experiences with all of you."
However, the ambiguity of the statement hasn't stopped fans from expressing their excitement online.
"Let'sss goooo," one wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
"I only waited 1/3rd of my life for this moment," another said.
But some sounded caution over the statement's refusal to explicitly name Grand Theft Auto 6.
"The next grand theft auto. Never said 6. I'm so skeptical I'm sure it's like GTA 4 remastered for the switch," one wrote.
It has been 10 years since Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto 5.
It went on to become the second best-selling video game of all time behind Minecraft, with more than 185 million copies sold worldwide.
However, Rockstar Games did officially confirm it was working on Grand Theft Auto 6 in February 2022.
Last September, an unprecedented leak appeared online which contained over 90 videos and screenshots from an early build of GTA 6.
The resultant frenzy forced Rockstar Games to acknowledge the hack as legitimate, calming fans who were shocked at how rough the footage looked.
"We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorized third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto," a statement said at the time.
"We are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way. We will update everyone again soon and, of course, will properly introduce you to this next game when it's ready."
In July last year, Bloomberg said the game will reportedly have a playable female lead character.
It claimed the woman will be Latina and her story arc in the game will see her as one of a pair of characters in a story "influenced" by the bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde.
It's the first time in the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series that there's been a female lead character.
The last game featured three leads, Michael, Trevor and Franklin, with their intersecting stories colliding at various points of the narrative.
Bloomberg also reported the game would be set in a fictionalised version of Miami and similar to the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City franchise entrant.
No date has been set yet for the trailer release.
