The Studio Behind GTA’s Definitive Edition Is Already Building Its Next Game — And It’s Not for Rockstar

Groove Street Games got raked over the coals for Grand Theft Auto: The Definitive Edition, then spent a long time trying to mop up the mess. Now there is a fresh wrinkle: a LinkedIn note from one of their execs suggests a new project is/was aimed at 2026. Between the studio's rocky history with Rockstar and some mixed signals about what they are actually building, there is more smoke than fire here.

The 2026 tease, and why it probably is not a Rockstar thing

Jordan Kleeman, Executive Producer at Groove Street Games, lists involvement on a project targeting 2026 on his LinkedIn. On paper that sounds straightforward. In reality, it is tangled up in the studio's relationship with Rockstar after the GTA Trilogy launch and the cleanup that followed.

• GTA Trilogy: Definitive Edition launched to heavy criticism. Fans went after both Rockstar and Groove Street Games.
• To their credit, GSG kept patching. Another update landed in November 2024.
• Then came the flashpoint: GSG's logo disappeared from the game's splash screen in an update.
• GSG CEO Thomas Williamson publicly vented and the studio's account unfollowed Rockstar. Rockstar did not return the unfollow, so the spat was basically one-sided.
• Important clarification: developer names did not get scrubbed from the credits; only the GSG logo vanished from the initial splash screen.

"Speaking entire hypothetically: It's a d**k move to remove primary developers from credits in an update, especially when an update includes hundreds of fixes that were provided by those developers that stayed out of players' hands for years."

That statement made the rounds, but again, the credits themselves remained. It was the splash branding that got pulled. Given all that history, a new GSG collaboration with Rockstar feels unlikely. And based on how fans received the Trilogy, I am not sure many would be heartbroken about that.

So, what is the mystery 2026 project? The ARK 2 angle

The obvious guess is ARK 2. It was originally pointed at 2026, which lines up neatly with Kleeman's note. But the developers behind ARK 2 have since told everyone to think later: the new guidance is 2028.

Here is where it gets messy. Groove Street Games does not list ARK 2 on its official site. However, ARK 2's Steam page includes Groove Street Games among the developers. That contradiction, plus the fact that Kleeman's LinkedIn and the official site do not look fully up to date, is exactly what is fueling the current confusion.

Where this likely lands

Given the shift on ARK 2 to 2028 and the out-of-date listings, do not expect a GSG project actually hitting in 2026. If GSG is contributing to ARK 2, it is probably a longer wait. And given the post-Trilogy frostiness, I would not bet on a near-term reunion with Rockstar either.