Rockstar Games is in an interesting position right now. It is currently witnessing the next generation of leaders stepping up to refill the shoes of former management, with the announcement that founder of the studio (and co-creator of both theGrand Theft AutoandRed Dead Redemptionfranchises) Dan Houser will be leaving Rockstar just earlier this week.
It is also now almost seven years since the studio releasedGrand Theft Auto 5and its extremely successful included modeGrand Theft Auto Online,meaning fans are eagerly anticipating some sort of update on the franchise’s future eventually. Additionally, becauseGrand Theft Auto Onlineis now just a game-as-service game a laDestiny,its future is a little unclear as Rockstar could just as easily, but not likely, make the online mode separate from the release of the rumored (but highly anticipated)Grand Theft Auto 6and still have it be successful.
Regarding that game, not much is known aboutGrand Theft Auto 6 or its release date which has been a subject of popular rumors butGTA 6would be the perfect opportunity to revitalizeGTA Onlinefor a number of reasons.
GTA Online Might Be Peaking
Going by its current popularity, one might find it slightly unbelievable to think thatGrand Theft Auto Onlinewas initially not very well received when it launched. AlthoughGTA 5launched without any major problems,GTA Onlinewas riddled with network and gameplay issues both of the times it launched (at first a few weeks afterGTA 5on PS3 and Xbox 360 then again on PS4 and Xbox One a year later).
Rockstar eventually got a handle on the entire situation and shapedGTA Onlineinto the everlasting money printer that it is today. Amazingly, because ofGTA Online, GTA 5 continues to be in the NPD list of top 10 highest selling games almost every month since its release (which was 76 months ago). But time can still be a curse for video games andGTA 5is a game that launched on hardware from 2005. The declining number of DLC updates over the years is another indication of the state of the game.
GTA Onlinewent from having eight major updates in 2015 to just the two major Diamond Casino updates in 2019. This could be due to a lot of things. Rockstar could be consolidating its release plans, it could be saving up resources as it moves on to its next big project, or the reason could be something as downbeat as the studio is simply running out of ideas.
In any case, a brand new blockbuster entry in the franchise (in the form ofGTA 6) would surely giveGTA Onlinea huge boost, especially in the PS5 and Xbox Series X age.
GTA 6 Gives Rockstar a Chance to Dominate PS5 and Xbox One
As previously implied, the PS3 and Xbox 360 came out in the mid-2000s and were the consoles thatGrand Theft Auto 5launched on. With a new console generation on the horizon,GTA 6would give Rockstar the opportunity to stationGTA Onlineas the premiere PS5 and Xbox Series X multiplayer title. AlthoughGTA Online is still one of the biggest games ever, it unfortunately released during the tail end of the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation.
The PS4 and Xbox One ports remedied that, but ifGTA 6releases within the first few years of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, then it would be the generation-defining title all throughout the consoles’ life cycles. It wouldn’t go without competition though. The newest type of game to come out in the past decade is the aforementioned game-as-service type. Companies, like Gearbox with Godfall,have gotten a head start on the new generation with games already claiming to be the next big game-as-service title.
Rockstar, as the name implies, doesn’t need to rush to the market to get a piece of it but putting out GTA 6say, during the 10th anniversary ofGTA 5in 2023 or earlier, would help it get the foothold on the industry that it currently has withGTA Online.
Grand Theft Auto Online is available now.