GTA6’s Online Mode Should Do Something GTA 5 Stayed Away…

Summary

GTA 5's online mode set the bar high, making it tough for GTA 6 to follow with its own multiplayer experience.
The success of GTA 5's multiplayer makes an online mode for GTA 6 inevitable, but major updates will be needed to keep fans engaged.
GTA 6's online mode may introduce new settings and classic GTA locations for players to explore, with the potential for smaller updates.

From the moment Grand Theft Auto 5's online servers went live, the multiplayer game became a phenomenon. While open-world multiplayer games had been around for a good few years, none delivered the same scale and scope as Grand Theft Auto 5's online mode. That scale and scope have only grown more impressive with each passing year, with countless updates making GTA Online's world feel even more expansive. It's going to be a tough act for Grand Theft Auto 6 to follow.

While an online mode for Grand Theft Auto 6 hasn't been officially confirmed yet, it seems like an inevitability after the extreme success of GTA 5's multiplayer mode. But simply having a multiplayer mode won't be enough to keep fans invested, which is something Red Dead Redemption 2 learned the hard way. If Rockstar is going to make GTA 6's online mode nearly as successful as its predecessor, then it'll need to have some major updates waiting in the wings, such as an update that gives players a significant change of scenery.

Grand Theft Auto 6's Online Mode Should Take Players to New Settings

Grand Theft Auto 6 Could Offer a Nice Change of Pace Later Down the Line

While there's been no official word on how large Grand Theft Auto 6's map will be, it seems safe to assume that it'll be quite a bit bigger than GTA 5's, with Rockstar upping the ante with each of its subsequent open-world titles. This open-world will likely be packed to the brim with story quests, stranger missions, side activities, minigames, and storefronts, and while not all of these will translate over to GTA 6's potential online mode, a few will make that leap, and the rest will be replaced by the multiplayer mode's own unique activities.

There's no doubt that Grand Theft Auto 6's online open-world will give players plenty to do, but even the biggest games have their limits. Die-hard GTA players are eventually going to see everything that GTA 6 online has to offer, and when that day ultimately comes, Rockstar could refresh the game by adding a new area. While this new area obviously couldn't be as big as GTA 6's base game map, it could still offer a sizable new patch of land for players to explore, with plenty of new activities dotted throughout, and plenty of visual variation to distinguish itself from Vice City.

Grand Theft Auto 6 Could Classic Settings Another Chance in the Spotlight

If Rockstar decided to add new areas to Grand Theft Auto 6's online mode, it could pave the way for some classic GTA locations to return. Vice City is already set to take center stage in GTA 6, and with Los Santos and Liberty City reappearing in GTA 5 and 4 respectively, it seems unlikely these locations will be the focal point of an inevitable Grand Theft Auto 7. Instead, fans could be given the opportunity to revisit these iconic locations in GTA 6's online mode, though they might be a bit too ambitious for a free update.

Instead, smaller locations from GTA's past would be a much better fit for any major post-launch updates. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' San Fierro and Las Venturas would be two great picks, offering plenty of nostalgia and a large space to fill with new activities, but not being overly ambitious in terms of scale or scope.

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Released: November 19, 2026
ESRB: Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+
Developer(s): Rockstar Games
Publisher(s): Rockstar Games

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