When Grand Theft Auto 5 first launched, heists were one of the most talked-about features. The heist missions were first announced all the way back in August of 2013, a couple of months prior to the launch of GTA 5 and GTA Online. However, the feature was repeatedly delayed, and didn’t come to the game until 18 months later! Since then, heists have proven to be extremely popular, and as such, are certain to feature in GTA 6, whenever that inevitable title releases. The question is, will they feature at launch?
GTA 6 Heists: Will Rockstar Aim to Include Them at Launch?
Multiplayer, multi-stage heist missions finally came to GTA Online with the ‘Heists Update’ in March of 2015. That update brought five separate heist missions, starting with the 2-player introductory Fleeca Job. The remaining four are all 4-player missions with huge payouts, requiring players to perform setup missions, assign roles, and complete different tasks simultaneously. They were one of the biggest post-launch content updates for the game. Indeed, they were so popular that Rockstar introduced more heist content to the game in December of 2017 with the ‘Doomsday Heist Update’. That update added three new heist missions which form part of a larger story.
The format of heist missions seems something that could easily be expanded on for GTA 6. Given the popularity of the heist missions, they are certain to be a major part of the next game in the series. However, they evidently take a long time to develop; both heist updates took over a year to release (although it’s unknown how long the Doomsday Heist content was in development). As such, it’s certainly possible that Rockstar may opt to release GTA 6 and release heists shortly after as post-launch content. However, given the outcry which persisted for months from fans asking for heists following the game’s release; it seems highly likely that Rockstar will seek to avoid another long wait.
GTA 6 Heists: A Post-Launch Content Release Model?
Indeed, the odds are high that GTA 6 will launch with at least some heist content; something to tide players over while Rockstar works on post-launch support, for example. Heists do, after all, serve as a useful vehicle for post-launch content delivery; completing GTA 5’s heist missions unlocks access to a variety of new weapons and vehicles. Most of these feature in one or more heists; conveniently giving players a chance to try them out before they’re able to buy and use them in GTA Online.
Given that format, it’s possible that heists could form the backbone of GTA 6’s post-launch content schedule. What if, for example, Rockstar opts to release a single new heist every few months, rather than a single major content pack? Depending on whether it would be feasible to develop heist content on such a schedule, this could serve as an effective incentive to keep players consistently coming back to the game post-launch.
At present, of course, nothing is known about GTA 6 besides some vague rumours and potential leaks. The game is likely to be in development, but is probably still in its early stages. However, Rockstar hasn’t even confirmed that the project is in development, let alone announced the game! As such, players will probably be waiting for a long while before they get to hear anything about GTA 6 heists. If there’s one thing which Rockstar has proven good at, however, it’s listening to their fans. The popularity of heists has surely not gone unnoticed.