We have an interesting rumor to talk about regarding Grand Theft Auto 6.
ReddCinema dropped this tidbit on Twitter the other day:
GTA 6 is rumored to have a 3v3 basketball mini-game.
Where Could This Rumor Have Come From?
Redd did not share their sources, so we decided to do a bit of sleuthing.
Rockstar shared promotional pictures of Jason playing basketball. It also looked like this was three-on-three street basketball. This image drove speculation that a mini-game could be coming.
But it’s not the only evidence going around.
Last September 2024, LegacyKillaHD claimed that Rockstar had a team dedicated to work on a basketball minigame. This team was in Rockstar Toronto, and not the NBA 2K studio Visual Concepts.
However, he also said that this was put on the chopping block at the end of 2023. So this may not necessarily be in the works anymore.
Would Rockstar Add A Basketball Game To Grand Theft Auto?
It’s possible that the promotional art Rockstar shared will ultimately only amount to a cutscene.
But it’s also possible that they will incorporate this as a mini-game that is part of the game’s story. Maybe it will be more of a side mission, but it would be an interesting possibility.
For example, Jason could be pretending to play hoops at a location to scout a location that he plans to case later. It’s also possible Jason’s objective is to befriend one of the other players in the neighborhood.
That could be part of an undercover thing, or simply Jason trying to make connections to help them and Lucia with some other heists.
Will They Make A Mini-NBA 2K In Grand Theft Auto?
When this rumor started going around, fans were already speculating if Rockstar could work with the studios working on NBA 2K.
It’s easy to see that Rockstar could ask another studio who already knows how to make basketball games help them out. But we think it’s just as likely that Rockstar will want to make their own thing.
If you don’t play the NBA 2K games, you may not know there is a serious focus on sports simulation. Rockstar is more likely to want a pick-up-and-play arcade style basketball game.
Rockstar would definitely be more than capable of making such a mini-game on their own. They once made their own table tennis game, with the intention of iterating their physics engine.
And they decided the game was so good that it would be worth releasing on its own. Of course, they were right.
So we don’t know if this mini-game is definitely happening. But we do think Rockstar is more than capable of making it a fun experience.
