A snag with having a megahit like the Grand Theft Auto franchise is that the other great games by the same developers are dwarfed by the spotlight on it. So is it with Rockstar Games, who is planning to release a new IP after Grand Theft Auto VI comes out and it shall be named either “Project Ethos” or “Project Medieval”. Or so says the internet. Well, stick around because we are dissecting this rumor right now.
Project Ethos: Rockstar Games’ new project after GTA VI
The biggest news in the cozy video game niche on the internet a while ago was the supposed leak about GTA VI, which is slated to be launched in 2025. But it seems that Rockstar Games is already ten moves ahead of the game. @PC_Focus_ posted on Twitter about the rumor that Rockstar Games has a new IP in the pipeline called “Project Ethos/Medieval”, revolving around a setting in medieval times.
This rumor has a long story to it. It started four years ago with a Reddit post. It discussed the release of a medieval game before GTA VI and Bully 2 and this was the time when the hype was all about these two titles. Of course, it sounded far-fetched back then and even the writer acknowledged this but said that the source had a good track record of GTAO DLC and RDR2 story details. This medieval game was to have a sword fighting/dueling mechanic. Well, we know that the post got the chronology wrong, but it might just be right about the rest of the stuff.
On 31 October 2023, @Budzcario tweeted about some trademarks applied by video game developers Take-Two Interactive in that same month. “PROJECT ETHOS” (in all caps) stood out as the most interesting one, hinting that a game might be in the talks at Rockstar Games. This name was trademarked both in the UK and the US. If you read the description, you’ll see that it is mostly concerned with video games and a few other categories.
Five days later, @Budzcario retweets the first tweet declaring that this mysterious trademark might be for a medieval game that was shelved or it could be for another title named “Agent”. Fast forward more than one and a half months after this, this guy tweets about the two new IPs in development by Take-Two, Agent and the unnamed medieval IP. According to the tweet, Agent is under development and will be released for new generation consoles (PS6, etc). Therefore, the medieval IP aka Project Ethos could be the title that Rockstar Games focuses on. It seems that this title has been under development since the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018.
Nobody would’ve believed the Reddit post of four years ago, but people are probably starting to take this matter more seriously now. Right now, Rockstar Games’ focus is on Grand Theft Auto VI. But they won’t be stopping there it seems. A video game in a medieval setting is a little more than a stone’s throw away from the genre of titles this developer is known for, but it is exciting to see what kind of flavor they will bring to such a setting.
Some might suggest that ‘Project Ethos’ could be the first to launch before GTA VI, but that is highly debatable. The big leak of this happened a little less than half a year ago since then, it seems obvious that Rockstar Games is pouring all of its resources into its development.
That covers all the internet has to say about the mysterious ‘Project Ethos’. Stick around and more leaks are bound to pop up.
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