Rockstar is said to have rebooted GTA VI script three times
, by Thibaut
Beware! The following should be taken with a grain of salt. Fravilys, who is not really well-known to the general public, claims to have got a scoop on the chaotic development for GTA VI. As of now, it's currently impossible to check whether their statements are true.
The main interested party states that there were "three different versions of the GTA VI script" before the one that ended up being final. These numerous iterations would even be one of the reasons behind Dan Houser's departure from Rockstar in 2021.
For starters, the first pitch was supposedly "a thriller-like detective story centered around three protagonists". This version was reportedly in development until late 2016 before being rejected by Take-Two Interactive as "too dark", neither did it meet the publisher's expectations.
The second scenario featured two protagonists. We found a policewoman and a drug dealer who was "as crazy as Trevor (in GTA V)". Again, development of this one was said to have lasted 18 months, before Take-two cancelled it once again.
As for the third prototype, it was based on the same premise as the second, but the policewoman was replaced with an African-American ex-soldier that got out of prison and fell into crime. This time, the cancellation goes back to March 2019.
Once again, it's best to take all this with a grain of salt.
Source: fravilys.medium.com