GTA Online, the multiplayer mode and toolkit for GTA 5, may well be the most successful part of any Grand Theft Auto game ever. In fact, although playing it requires players to own GTA 5; Rockstar actually considers it to be a separate, stand-alone game. Indeed, if gamers could actually purchase it separately, it seems likely that the majority of GTA 5 sales might have gone directly to GTA Online instead! However, as the game exists in a stand-alone space, it’s unclear what will happen to it when Rockstar inevitably releases GTA 6.
The Role of GTA Online and Possibilities for GTA 6
Since GTA Online launched shortly after GTA 5 in 2013, the online game mode has been enormously successful. It has received dozens of new updates and DLC content packs over the years, including the Heists and Doomsday Heist DLC. Offering open-world free-roaming in both private and public worlds, multiplayer matchmaking for a wide variety of game modes, and dedicated missions like heists; GTA Online has grown into an enormous content platform for Rockstar.
An indication of the success of GTA Online lies in Rockstar’s DLC development. Following the launch of the game, the vast majority of DLC releases have been for GTA Online. Only a small amount of new content has become available in the base game. Although Rockstar initially planned to release story DLC for GTA 5, that DLC never appeared.
Rockstar Design Director Imran Sarwar told Game Informer in 2017 that the decision not to develop story DLC was influenced by Rockstar’s preference for releasing it on the GTA Online platform; “With both GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption,” he explained; “we sold DLC and unfortunately both times, it fractured the audience and helped to kill the games much faster than they deserved. With GTA Online, if there’s content people don’t like or want, they can simply ignore it and do something else, while still being in the same core world as everyone else. For us, this model works and has let us keep expanding the experience.”
Looking ahead to GTA 6; there’s no doubt that GTA Online will continue to be a major part of the franchise. In fact, looking at how the game has grown since launch; one might wonder if Rockstar could release GTA 6 and focus solely on the online aspects. Fortunately for single-player fans, the recent release and success of Red Dead Redemption 2 all but guarantees that Rockstar has no intention of abandoning single-player story campaigns anytime soon. As such, the question remains whether Rockstar will effectively release a new “GTA Online 2” as part of GTA 6. Or instead, choose to phase new content into the existing online title.
The Problem of the GTA Online Arms Race for GTA 6
It’s possible that Rockstar could go with either option. However, the former seems much more likely due to one major factor; the ‘arms race’ which has taken place in GTA Online in the years since 2013. If a player were to go back and look at GTA Online when it launched and compare it to the game now; the two would seem obviously and starkly different. Rockstar has added all manner of new vehicles, services, and weapons, and has slowly been getting more and more technologically advanced. Now, players in GTA Online can acquire flying cars, rocket-bikes, alien firearms, zeppelins, and much, much more. (Not to mention orbital strike capabilities!)
Rockstar’s goal of continually seeking to one-up their previous new content releases has driven technology and capabilities to the extreme. While it has provided GTA fans with a steady stream of exciting new content; it has reached a point where it would be very difficult to transition into a new game. (Unless GTA 6 was a full-on futuristic science-fiction title!) If Rockstar plans on re-using the format of GTA Online for GTA 6 and doesn’t plan any radical changes for the series; there will need to be something of a reset.
The Problem with a Hard Reset for GTA Online
A reset to the normal content would give Rockstar a blank slate to build upon once again. However, it does come with its own problems. One specific issue is that of incentivising players to migrate to the new title. If GTA Online ‘2’ launches alongside GTA 6; Rockstar will need to convince active GTA Online players to make the shift over to a new platform with vastly decreased amounts of content. In the end, GTA Online may prove to be a once-in-a-lifetime platform; the series could fall victim to its own success if Rockstar struggles to shift its player-base into a new title.
The good news is that Rockstar likely has years to figure out how best to develop the online capabilities of GTA 6. The studio hasn’t even formally announced that the game is in development. Additionally, the studio recently broke records for the sales of Red Dead Redemption 2; illustrating clearly how beloved the studio’s games are among many gamers. At this stage, it would actually be surprising if GTA 6 doesn’t break records of its own when it launches! The question remains, however, whether Rockstar will be able to replicate the unprecedented success of GTA Online.