When the notorious ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ was released in 2013, it quickly became the fastest selling video game of all time. The open-world game made stealing cars, causing shootouts, and creating general mayhem around the fictional city of Los Santos downright fun. Well, it’s now the year 2025 – and ‘GTA 6’ is still nothing more than a wistful hope for gamers everywhere. With controversial leaks in 2022, an official announcement and trailer in 2023, and a tentative fall 2025 release date, anticipation for ‘GTA 6’ has become its own internet meme – with incredulous world events being met with: “We got ___ before GTA 6”. The fact that we’ve gotten two Trump presidencies, Brexit, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and a full-blown global pandemic before ‘GTA 6’ is baffling enough – but what else have we gotten during this long wait?
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1. A FIFA World Cup Win For Messi
With the legendary Argentine footballer already well into his thirties by the time the 2022 FIFA World Cup rolled around, Lionel Messi’s many die-hard fans worried that a long-awaited World Cup win may never materialise for the accomplished forward. But as fate would have it, Messi ultimately captained Argentina to victory over France in the final – winning his second Golden Ball and pulling Argentina out of a 36-year World Cup-less drought in the process.
2. The First Picture of A Black Hole
Once considered impossible (though, as it turns out, not as impossible as the release of GTA 6), the first image of a black hole was captured in 2019. The star of the image resided in the Messier 87 galaxy and was photographed by the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration – a global research team of over 200 scientists. Working with a vast network of telescopes, the team was able to capture the shadow of the elusive black hole at the centre of M87.
3. The Pokémon Go Craze
Remember when you couldn’t enter a public area without running into people frantically trying to catch invisible Pokémon on their phones? The summer of 2016 may feel like a fever dream now, but the ‘Pokémon Go’ app had the world at its feet for a few unbelievable weeks – before losing over half of its users. As a true ‘you had to be there’ period, it was the only moment in time where posting a Moltres sighting could lead to a stampede.
4. Bennifer Gets Back Together, Married, & Divorced
The wait for ‘GTA 6’ has been long enough that it extends beyond just Gen Z. So here’s something for the Gen Xers, older Millennials, and Y2K-obsessed Gen Zers. After several years as the It couple of Hollywood, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez (Bennifer) split in 2004 – only to reunite 17 years later. Subsequently, we’ve gotten Bennifer coming back together (2021), getting married (2022), and filing for divorce (2024) – all before ‘GTA 6’ even arrives.
5. Two Impeached South Korean Presidents
Impeaching one president might be astonishing enough, but two? On 9 December 2016, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye was impeached following a long and bizarre political scandal involving coercion, bribery, abuse of power, and more. Now (just under the wire of GTA 6’s potential fall 2025 release), President Yoon Suk Yeol has also been impeached on 4 April 2025, following his late-night declaration of martial law on 3 December 2024 – an implementation that lasted only about six hours.
6. Oasis Reunites
As famous as the British band Oasis is, the epic feud between brothers/bandmates Noel and Liam Gallagher is often talked about just as much. After their clashes led to the implosion of Oasis, few believed the two could ever put aside their differences and perform on the same stage again – let alone reunite the band. But as we’ve learned, many once-impossible things have occurred before the release of ‘GTA 6’. And sure enough, in 2024, Oasis announced a reunion tour for the summer of 2025.
7. India Overtakes China As The Most Populous Country
For decades, China’s position as the country with the largest population was considered indisputable. But for the first time in 2022, the continuously growing India surpassed China as the most populous country. A number of factors, including the long-term effects of China’s one-child policy, have presumably led to this shift – with India’s population projected to continue rising for the next few decades.
8. Taylor Swift Wins Three More ‘Album Of The Year’ Grammys
Before ‘GTA 5’ hit the shelves, fresh-faced country star Taylor Swift had just one ‘Album of the Year’ Grammy to her name for ‘Fearless.’ Since then – and all before the release of ‘GTA 6’ – Swift has racked up three more trophies in the prestigious category. With wins for ‘1989’ in 2016, ‘Folklore’ in 2021, and ‘Midnights’ in 2024, Swift has become the first and only artist to win four ‘Album of the Year’ titles as a now-seasoned pop star.
9. The End of The TV Life Of Sheldon Cooper
Once one of the most popular TV shows on the air, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ continues to draw new viewers each year through streaming services. Although it premiered in 2007, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ not only ended its run but has also launched and concluded an entire a spin-off series since then. With the original show ending in 2019 and ‘Young Sheldon’ running from 2017 to 2024, it can be argued that the entire TV life of Sheldon Cooper (originally portrayed by Jim Parsons and later by Iain Armitage) has now come and gone.
10. ChatGPT Shakes Up The AI Game
Since 2013, the world of AI has advanced by leaps and bounds. One of the most significant developments in making AI accessible to the average person has been the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. An AI chatbot which converses with the user like a human through its advanced natural language processing, ChatGPT’s fast integration into users’ lives has drawn both praise and criticism. With ChatGPT now available to answer questions, write essays or code, summarise content, and more, its rise has profoundly highlighted AI’s value in everyday life.
Born in Korea and raised in Hong Kong, Min Ji has combined her degree in anthropology and creative writing with her passion for going on unsolicited tangents as an editor at Friday Club. In between watching an endless amount of movies, she enjoys trying new cocktails and pastas while occasionally snapping a few pictures.
