The wait for GTA VI is finally, truly coming to an end. Yesterday, Rockstar Games shared a new Extended Look at the long-awaited game, and we are now just three months away from its release. And about time too. Because since GTA V was released in September 2013, so much has happened within the harder styles that some artists have built entire careers before we even got the chance to return to Vice City.

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Over the course of more than thirteen years, artists have risen, disappeared and already made their comebacks. Events were born and buried, while entire genres completely changed. To put the painfully long wait into perspective: these 10 things all happened after GTA V and before GTA VI.

Headhunterz quit, came back, stopped performing and then returned AGAIN

This might be the ultimate GTA benchmark (with a big wink, of course). When GTA V came out, Headhunterz hadn’t even left hardstyle for the first time yet. He then moved towards EDM, made his huge comeback in 2017, stepped away from performing indefinitely at the end of 2023 and suddenly appeared as a mystery guest at EPIK in Australia in December 2025. He is now also on the line-up for the upcoming edition of Knockout Outdoor in Australia.

Supremacy hadn’t even been created yet

When GTA V was released on September 17, 2013, Supremacy simply didn’t exist yet. Its very first edition was still to come.

Eleven editions later, it has grown into one of the most important RAW events in the world. Its anniversary edition even moved from the Brabanthallen to the GelreDome. An event was able to launch, grow into one of the scene’s biggest names and celebrate its tenth anniversary in a stadium before GTA VI came out.

Project One disappeared for years and already made ANOTHER comeback

Project One has also written quite a bit of history in the meantime. Headhunterz & Wildstylez brought their legendary act back to life, disappeared from sight again for years and returned in early 2026 with two headline shows at the Brabanthallen.

The first show sold out within fifteen minutes, leading to a second day being added. And it didn’t stop with those two shows: Project One announced several more performances around the world, while things finally started moving on the music side as well. After years of waiting, two official Project One releases arrived in 2026, including ‘Move With The One’ on August 21. The legendary Project One vinyl collection was also re-released.

Trevor, Michael and Franklin turned out to be perfect sample material

GTA V itself also found its way into the harder styles. Several artists used samples from the game in their music, with GTA V samples appearing in Angerfist – R3VOLUTION, War Force – Reloaded and Deadly Guns & Ncrypta – Rip It Open. Even the official music video for ‘R3VOLUTION’ was created entirely in a GTA-inspired style.

With GTA 6 finally on the way, the only question is when that tradition will continue. It probably won’t take long before the first GTA VI samples start blasting across harder-styles festival grounds.

POWER HOUR didn’t exist yet

A Defqon.1 Saturday without POWER HOUR is almost impossible to imagine nowadays, but when GTA V was released in 2013, the concept didn’t even exist. The very first POWER HOUR took place one year later, in 2014, at the RED.

Since then, the hour filled with crazy edits, stunts, inflatables and, of course, the massive LEFT-RIGHT has grown into one of the most iconic parts of Defqon.1. GTA V is literally older than POWER HOUR.

Uptempo was still just uptempo

When GTA V was released in 2013, the uptempo scene was still incredibly small. Today, the genre has become massively popular and uptempo artists are impossible to ignore at the biggest harder-styles festivals. They get huge dedicated stages and can now even be found on the mainstage. The music itself has evolved massively too, with several different sounds and movements emerging within uptempo.

Qlimax got ‘WASTED’

When GTA V came out in 2013, Qlimax was still an annual certainty within hardstyle. Every year, tens of thousands of fans travelled to the GelreDome for another edition of one of the most iconic events in the history of the genre. Several legendary editions followed in the years after, until Q-dance announced in 2024 that Qlimax would come to an end.

On November 16, 2024, The Final Prophecy became the very last edition. After almost 25 years, Qlimax disappeared from the hardstyle calendar. GTA V was already around for the final eleven editions of Qlimax and ultimately even outlived the event itself.

Digital Madness was only ONE year old

When GTA V was released on September 17, 2013, Digital Madness was only one year old. Today, he’s behind the decks himself and has performed at festivals such as Defqon.1, Tomorrowland, REBiRTH Festival and Intents Festival. Last year, he even performed on the Decibel outdoor mainstage.

Digital Madness literally learned how to walk, talk and DJ AND made it to the Decibel mainstage before GTA VI came out.

Hardstyle made its way into techno events

When GTA V came out in 2013, hardstyle and techno were still two fairly separate worlds. Today, that’s completely different. With the rise of hard techno, hardstyle kicks, reverse bass and even full hardstyle tracks can regularly be heard at techno events. Artists from both scenes are also increasingly appearing on the same line-ups.

Phuture Noize, Psyko Punkz AND Bass Modulators were still duos

When GTA V was released in 2013, several well-known hardstyle acts looked quite different. Phuture Noize was still a duo before continuing as a solo act in 2015. Psyko Punkz also still consisted of two members at the time, before the act continued solo and the other member later returned as KELTEK.

And Bass Modulators was still a duo when GTA V came out too. It wasn’t until years later that they went their separate ways and Bass Modulators continued as a solo act.