GTA Los Santos
Grand Theft Auto 5's Los Santos. Rockstar Games

Update: PCGamesN has discovered that the CV that led to speculation regarding the development of GTA 6 is an elaborate fake.

Original story: Speculation that Rockstar Games is currently working on Grand Theft Auto 6 gripped the gaming industry today (27 July) after an actor's apparent CV noted work on the unannounced game, as well as upcoming western Red Dead Redemption 2.

The resume of Tim Neff (found and shared on NeoGAF), a performance-capture actor working out of LA and New York, gives nothing away in regard to what character or NPC he might have been playing, so all we have to go on is a listing that may or may not be a typo.

Whether the listing is accurate, not or if it's even real likely won't become clear until after more solid news about the sequel comes out, and everyone will have moved on.

The fact of the matter is that, even if the resume isn't accurate, Rockstar is absolutely, 100% working on a new Grand Theft Auto in some capacity.

GTA 5 released in 2013, and remains a chart-topper four years later. It has sold incredibly well and is well on its way to becoming the third highest-selling game of all time behind Minecraft and Tetris.

Set in a spoof Los Angeles called Los Santos and the surrounding countryside of San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto 5 would have been a huge success even if it wasn't for its moreish multiplayer aspect.

Grand Theft Auto Online is the reason this GTA is the most successful to date, and Rockstar's continuing support for it is why the game still sells so astoundingly well years after its initial release.

The 2013 release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 was followed in late 2014 with a launch on PS4 and Xbox One. It wasn't until spring 2015 that the game finally arrived on PC. The game's availability on five platforms is also a big contributing factor to its record sales.

A lawsuit in 2016 revealed that, at the time, GTA Online had generated $500m in revenue from microtransactions for Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two Interactive. It's safe to assume this online factor will be a key component of the inevitable sequel.

Whether the game's single-player and multiplayer aspects remain separate will be a big question hanging over GTA 6, with many fans hoping Rockstar sticks with the story-led solo play that's been a staple of the series since it began in 1997.

Grand Theft Auto 6 likely won't be released until 2020 at the earliest, with the studio's current focus being Red Dead Redemption 2, which was delayed earlier this year until 2018.