It's been three years since Grand Theft Auto 5 landed on the scene, much to the delight of the franchise's fans.  But gamers are impatient for the next installment, even though it is probably still several years from release.

There have been scant details from Rockstar, who has been pretty tightlipped about what the next installment will look like.  

A report from PC Advisor discusses the possibility of Rockstar utilizing a female protagonist to shake up the franchise and give it a fresh spin. 

The game is not so popular with some who dislike the portrayal of women and it may be that Rockstar is addressing these criticisms by changing the game to have a female protagonist, something it hasn't done before.  In previous installments, women have all been minor characters while the male characters drive the action. 

PC Advisor noted that such a shake up would actually be good plot-wise as it would open up more lines for the story to go down.  

There is also talk of the current third­ person mode being replaced by a first­person mode and that Rockstar will make the game available for both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.

It's all speculation as the moment as Rockstar continues to focus on churning out more content for the hugely popular - and lucrative - GTA 5.  

It just recently announced some major updates for the spring and summer seasons with new cars, stunt races and weapons.  While GTA 6 remains a long way off, there are at least plenty of thrills to keep players occupied with GTA 5 for the timebeing. 

That being said, of course, fans would rather see a brand new installment to get their teeth into.  But they should be realistic and expect a long wait on this one.  

Rockstar has a track record of taking its time with GTA - no surprises given that its the studio's prized franchise.  It was a very long seven years between the release of GTA 3 and GTA 4.  Then it was another five years before GTA 5 landed on the scene.  

So, given that it's only been three years since since GTA 5 rolled out, we can safely presume we've still got a good two to four years to go until GTA 6 comes out.  The most popular year being rolled around the rumor mill is 2018, which seems a little premature to us given how quiet Rockstar's been.  Some fans spotted two doors in GTA 5 labeled "2013" and "2021" and read into that the possibility that they refer to the year GTA 5 was released and the year the next GTA installment is set to land.  

Some fans have been given hope by the fact that Rockstar's other hit title, "Red Dead Redemption 2" is due out this year, which could free up room for the studio to at last give GTA 6 some proper time and attention.

It's all speculation for now and we'll have to wait for Rockstar to shed some real light on the matter.