Featured Image Credit: Rockstar Games
Topics: Grand Theft Auto, GTA Online, GTA 6, Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto VI launches later this year, hopefully, and I’m positive it’s going to be a masterpiece.
Rockstar Games has been working on this next title for ages and from what’s been leaked/rumoured it’s going to be the perfect mix of everything we loved from Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2.
However there’s just one thing that’s making me nervous, the Online mode. Rockstar has been very hush-hush about the next iteration of GTA: Online but we all know it’s going to have one, how else will it keep us playing while the next title is being worked on?
Anyone who’s played GTA: Online will know it started from humble beginnings and was gradually updated into the chaotic apocalypse simulator we know it as today. Joining a lobby is 50/50 as you’ll either stumble onto players working like well-oiled machines grinding machines to inflate their bank accounts, or the most insufferable trolls you’ll ever meet flying around on missile-launching Oppressor Mk IIs.
The driving force behind the chaos was money. Everything the player does in GTA: Online revolves around earning as much in-game cash as you can so you can buy cool stuff and actually play the game.
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This means playing and replaying heists, building and supporting your in-game businesses and taking advantage of the bonuses and gifts Rockstar occasionally throws your way. The alternative is spending actual money on Shark Cards to bypass the hard work. For the best gear and properties in the game you’ll have to grind for hours, turning what was supposed to be a fun online gaming experience into a second job. I fell off it pretty quickly.
Now I’m guessing that GTA VI’s version of Online will see every player start from scratch. I’d imagine there’ll be a bonus or reward for those who connect to the game with the same Rockstar Games account they used for GTA V, but I’d be very surprised if any of your in-game assets can be carried over from San Andreas to Leonida.
I’m all for that as it keeps things fair, but if businesses make a return we’ll inevitably have to grind missions again, and I don’t fancy doing that given the supposed size of the map. When you wanted to cash-in on GTA: Online you usually have to do some sort of delivery mission and if you didn’t purchase a more expensive property near Los Santos there’s a good chance you’d be crossing the entire length of the map to make your drop-off, dodging other players trying to either grief you or steal your loot.
Driving that long of a distance was pretty boring anyway, and it’ll be twice as boring if the map for GTA VI is as big as the leaks suggest. Rumours also have it that it’ll support up to 32 players, meaning even more players to avoid as you attempt to make your homerun.
This is all assuming the new Online mode is that content heavy at launch. GTA V’s version was pretty barebones when it first launched with additional content being trickled in with each year. I can’t imagine Rockstar not taking the same approach with GTA VI.
What could be GTA VI’s biggest strength in the Story mode could be its biggest weakness in the Online mode, at least for the first few months of its life. As time goes on and the map gets more populated it might open up, but it’ll still probably feel like a chore to cross when you’re taking part in missions. Hopefully there’s a fast travel option like there is in Red Dead Online.