GTA 6 super bowl ad? 3 reasons you shouldn't believe the rumors

Grand Theft Auto fans are at it again. Despite the fact that Rockstar has yet to reveal any firm details on Grand Theft Auto 6, that hasn’t stopped loyal players from anticipating its release. While rumors are commonplace at this point, a recent Reddit post offers the most far-reaching bit of speculation we’ve seen yet.

The theory posits that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be revealed at this year’s Super Bowl on Sunday, February 7. The evidence? This year’s halftime show is The Weeknd. Over the past two years, fans have speculated that Rockstar has had a relationship with both the musical artist and the NFL itself. That seemingly sets the stage for a prime time reveal right in the middle of this year’s big game.

If “wishful thinking” had its own dictionary entry, Webster’s could probably copy and paste this theory in as its definition. Even the original poster admits it’s “not very likely.” While anything truly is possible in 2021, Inverse is here to rain on fans' collective parade. Here are three reasons why, no, Grand Theft Auto 6 will not debut at Super Bowl LV.

The Rockstar/Weeknd Connection Debunked

A major piece of this theory comes down to the man of the hour, The Weeknd. The singer is putting on an extra-long halftime show this year. Weirdly, The Weeknd does have a connection to Grand Theft Auto 6, but it’s less official than fans think.

Back in September, The Weeknd dropped a special music video for his smash hit “Blinding Lights.” The animated video is billed as a “TikTok Experience” and features tons of flashy billboards adorned with different messages. Eagle-eyed fans noticed that one of those billboards says “GTA 6 trailer.” That understandably fueled some speculation that the video was teasing a collaboration. As is the case with most rumors, that ballooned out into a much bigger tall tale about a full-on collaboration between the artist and Rockstar.

Here’s where we’re here to play spoiler. The music video features comments from the first “Blinding Lights” music video plastered on the video's signs. So the “GTA 6 trailer” comment was actually from a fan, creating a bizarre loop of fans making theories about other fans.

The Rockstar/NFL Connection Debunked

The second piece of this theory comes from last year’s Super Bowl. The big game took place in Miami and featured some aesthetic direction inspired by the city. But one graphic caught fans’ eyes: a “Super Bowl LIV Miami” in the style of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’s iconic box art. Some fans saw that as a pepper teaser and now speculate that the payoff is finally coming this year.

Once again, allow us to crush this hope for fans who don’t watch a lot of football. The NFL utilizes a lot of ridiculous graphics. Turn on any game and you’ll see a creepy animation of Tom Brady posing as Father Time. The NFL graphics team is also no strangers to pop culture, frequently making little winks at pop culture.

The likelihood of Rockstar teaming up with the NFL to make a teaser graphic for a game it has not announced since as an elaborate way to reveal it during The Weeknd’s halftime show this year is … just about zero.

Rockstar Isn’t Done With GTA 5

Perhaps the most simple debunk of any reveal theory is that Rockstar simply isn’t finished with Grand Theft Auto V yet. The open-world game is still absolutely thriving, netting its biggest month ever. Not only that, but GTA 5’s next-gen console upgrade is still on the horizon.

Rumors indicate that GTA 6 is early in development and that part is easy to buy. At this point, it’d be genuinely surprising if Rockstar hadn’t started working on the game. But with GTA 5 plans in the pipeline and the game’s continued success, the likelihood of Rockstar rolling out the red carpet for the next game seems unlikely. That would steal much of the thunder from the next-gen version of GTA 5, which will be an important launch for Rockstar this year.

Once that’s out of the way, the prospect of a GTA 6 reveal feels much more likely. Perhaps we’ll finally see it revealed at next year’s Super Bowl when Love Fist plays the halftime show.

GTA 6 is reportedly in development.