When Grand Theft Auto VI launches on 19th November, it will not have a new GTA Online or multiplayer modes.
It’s an interesting distinctions that Take Two and Rockstar has made ahead of the start of pre-orders for GTA 6 is to describe it purely as “a single-player experience” in the press release and makes no mention of GTA Online, outside of describing perks for the GTA+ subscription service.
Not only this, but the PlayStation Store page specifically answers that “Grand Theft Auto VI is a single-player experience.” in its FAQ, and the game only has a single-player tag on the Xbox store.
So what’s going on here? Are we not getting a new GTA Online?
Well, this does track with the last couple of releases from Rockstar, with GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 both launching with just the single-player story for players to dive into, before GTA Online and Red Dead Online were added via an update weeks later.
Grand Theft Auto V launched on 17th September 2013, with Grand Theft Auto Online arriving a fortnight later on 1st October 2013. Meanwhile, Red Dead Redemption 2 launched on 26th October 2018 and Red Dead Online was first playable from 27th November. Strictly speaking, Red Dead Online’s full launch actually came on 14th May 2019.
The long-held expectation has been that Rockstar will follow a similar process for GTA 6, launching the single-player game first and with the multiplayer to follow. It could be a legal requirement for them to only market the game as a single-player game for that reason, and since GTA 6 has only ever been shown off using the single-player to date, they no doubt want to keep their powder dry until they’re ready to reveal the new GTA Online.
However, there is also the possibility that Rockstar is looking to shake up how GTA Online is presented to players. As the 2013 edition has been upgraded and remastered for later console generations, GTA Online has become a standalone purchase, and so too has Red Dead Online. But could Take Two be looking to branch it off from GTA 6 from the off, similar to how COD Warzone can exist semi-separately to the main series?
Source: Take Two, PlayStation Store, Xbox Store
