GTA 6 Metacritic Score Leaves Gamers Split

GTA 6 Metacritic Score Predictions Are Already Dividing Fans

Published Oct 8, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT

Tom Wilson is a Gaming Features Writer at Screen Rant. Over the past five years, Tom has worked as the Editor-in-Chief at The Game Crater, as a Staff Writer for GamingIntel, a List Writer at TheGamer, and, of course, as a Senior Writer at ScreenRant. Tom has experience writing reviews, guides, news, and features, and has been responsible for teams of writers, training them and editing their work.

Tom graduated with a Masters in Multimedia Journalism, and has since gone on to build up his portfolio of games journalism work.

It is no surprise that Grand Theft Auto 6 has already proven to be a divisive game. When anything is discussed as widely and critically as GTA 6, it is bound to draw both enthused fanatics devoted to overlooking its flaws and dogmatic detractors dedicated to rendering all positivity toward it null and void. Of course, somewhere sandwiched between the two is nuanced debate, but this division is ultimately what attracts attention, as its binary nature makes for more compelling entertainment.

It doesn't help that GTA 6 is riddled with controversy, the numerous failings and poor decisions of its developer, Rockstar, ultimately proving to be a source of frustration for fans and critics alike. From the studio's failings as an employer to its baffling marketing decisions, GTA 6 simply cannot escape the dark cloud swirling above Rockstar's proverbial head. Consequently, we get people ripping into every aspect of the game long before it is even due to release, including, bizarrely, its Metacritic review score, something fans seem immensely interested in discussing already.

Of course, it goes without saying that Grand Theft Auto 6's reviews aren't currently out and likely won't be for quite some time to come. Typically, Rockstar drops the review embargo for its games the day before launch, or sometimes even the day of, so fans shouldn't expect real reviews to come until November 18 at the absolute earliest. However, that isn't stopping a group of incredibly impassioned fans from debating whether or not Grand Theft Auto 6 will garner review scores as high as 99 on Metacritic, or perhaps even obtain the ever-elusive 100.

Over on Reddit, a fan sparked a discussion around GTA 6's potential review score, which many responded to believing it would fail to garner a 99 or 100. The predominant reasoning for this was that the game already has numerous detractors, those who could, in theory, review bomb GTA 6 in an attempt to send a message to Rockstar. While it is certainly rare for a website large enough to be officially considered to join Metacritic (after all, not every publication gets its review put on the platform) to review bomb a game, it's not completely impossible.

User spryes commented that "this game will have generational haters no matter how incredible it is; can't see it going above 95, low 90s possible," with many others, including 2psah, agreeing, believing it won't garner scores higher than "96 or 97." Many pointed out that, despite largely being considered one of the best games ever made and Rockstar's finest achievement, Red Dead Redemption 2 only achieved 98, and there is only one game with a score of 99 on the platform, which is the original Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Reviews have become harsher due to rising expectations, and even with Grand Theft Auto 6's lofty ambitions, it could fall short of the aforementioned elusive high scores. Regardless, a 98 or even 90 is an admirable score, one that shouldn't be so easily dismissed. This was pointed out by user count_dummy, who wrote, "I know GTA fans are fanatical, but I promise you the game hitting 99, 98, 97, or 100 won't change your enjoyment of the game." Ultimately, it remains to be seen what score GTA 6 will get, but suffice it to say, it's likely to be high.

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