Grand Theft Auto Online began as GTA V multiplayer mode, but ended up becoming something much bigger than that.
Originally launched in 2013, GTA Online went through different generations of consoles, received dozens of updates and managed to remain relevant for over a decade.
During that period came blows, properties, companies, vehicles, weapons, races, missions and a practically own economy.
The result was a game that helped GTA V to stay alive for many years and turned online mode into one of the most important parts of the franchise.
In a multiplayer mode for a game itself
When GTA Online arrived, the idea seemed relatively simple: allow each player to create his character and build a life within Los Santos next to other people.
The beginning, however, was far from perfect.
Problems on the servers, difficulties to enter the matches and even loss of progress were part of the first days.
In time, Rockstar began to find the formula that would make the game last so many years. Instead of treating GTA Online only as a secondary content of GTA V, the company turned it into a platform that could continue to grow.
Property, illegal business, clubs, bunkers, casinos, special vehicles and, above all, the big scams.
From there, GTA Online left to appear only “the GTA V multiplayer”. It came into existence practically as its own product.
The True GTA Gold V was on Online?
When we think of the success of GTA V, it's impossible to ignore the role GTA Online played in this.
GTA V sold absurdly on its own merit, but Online brought something extremely important to the Rockstar and Take-Two: a recipe source that could continue to work for years.
A player buys GTA V once.
At GTA Online, however, it can remain for years within the same universe, buying vehicles, properties, businesses and constantly participating in the economy created for the game.
Updates also created A very efficient cycle. Whenever a new scam, car, property or activity appeared, part of the community returned to find out what had changed.
This helped keep Los Santos busy for almost one generation of consoles — and then another.
And now comes GTA VI
With GTA VI appears an inevitable question: if GTA Online was able to do all this using as base a game released in 2013, what does Rockstar intend to do with the next generation Online?
So far, Rockstar has not officially presented what a new GTA VI-based online experience will look like.
It also did not explain when it will arrive, how it will work or even how it will be treated in relation to the GTA Online that currently exists.
For now, there are many more questions than answers.
Shall we all start from scratch?
That may be one of the biggest doubts.
There are people who have spent more than ten years building their characters on GTA Online. Players with cars, companies, hangars, apartments, weapons and accumulated fortunes for years.
Transporting all this directly into a new economy could cause some players to start the new Online almost at the end of the game.
On the other hand, simply leaving behind more than a decade of progress would also be a difficult decision.
One possibility would be to recognize old players through rewards, exclusive items or benefits linked to the Rockstar account, without necessarily transferring all money and equity.
It would be a way to value who was in the GTA Online for years without destroying the economy of the next game right on the first day.
But that's just a possibility. Nothing like that was confirmed by Rockstar.
Vice City and Leonida can change Online
If the next multiplayer uses the world presented in GTA VI, we will be talking about a region with urban areas, beaches, roads, rural regions, swamps and different environments to be explored.
This makes room for a much larger experience.
More inland, denser cities, busy beaches, nightlife, boats, aircraft and a much larger number of simultaneous events could completely change the feel of multiplayer.
Social networks can be part of this development
There is another element that has attracted a lot of attention in GTA VI materials: social networks.
Vertical videos, transmissions, comments, people being filmed and viralizing situations are part of that universe.
If Rockstar takes this idea online, maybe the next multiplayer will go beyond simply buying cars, guns and properties.
Reputation, content creation and interaction between players could be part of the experience itself.
Imagine. players creating races, events, missions or situations that gain popularity within the game universe itself.
It is an interesting possibility, especially considering the importance that the content created by the players themselves has gained in the industry over the past few years.
And the content creators?
GTA Online already has tools to create races and activities. So it would be natural to imagine an evolution of these tools in the future.
More elaborate missions, personalized experiences and greater freedom to create content could help the next GTA Online to last even longer than the current one.
That also raises another question: Will players ever can they earn real money producing experiences within GTA?
Games like Fortnite and Roblox have shown that there is a gigantic market around content created by the community itself.
A platform the size of GTA could explore something similar.
For now, however, there is no confirmation that Rockstar intends to follow That way.
Take-Two will want to repeat the success
What seems difficult to imagine is Take-Two simply abandoning a formula that made GTA Online so important.
The game showed that GTA can continue generating revenue many years after the release of the main campaign.
For a company, that's extremely valuable.
GTA VI Probably won't be treated just as a game that needs to sell millions of copies in the release. There is also an interest in keeping millions of players inside that universe for many years.
And GTA Online has already shown exactly how this can happen.
An update brings players back.
A new car moves the Economics.
One property creates another goal.
A coup can reunite again groups of friends who were months without playing.
That formula worked for over a decade. It's hard to imagine it being abandoned right now.
What will happen to the current GTA Online?
Another important issue is the fate of the GTA Online we know Today.
Will it continue to function normally after a new Online experience arrives?
Will you keep getting updates?
Will Rockstar keep Los Santos and Vice City running at the same time?
There may be a transitional period.
There is a huge amount of players, content and money involved in GTA Current online. Closing everything overnight would be a pretty aggressive change.
But Rockstar still needs to explain how she intends to handle it.
What about the PC version?
There is also the old PC issue.
GTA V first reached the consoles and only later received his computer version. With GTA VI, the consoles are also ahead in Launch announced.
This becomes even more interesting when we think about Online.
If a new multiplayer experience tracks GTA VI on consoles before the PC version, computer players can enter this new universe after who started on consoles.
There are other questions.
Progress will be separated between platforms?
Will there be cross-play?
Can PC players play with anyone on the consoles?
Will the economy be shared?
Will it be possible to transfer characters later?
For now, these questions remain unanswered.
The next Online needs to be more than GTA Online with better graphics
Maybe this one. be the main difference between the release of GTA V and GTA VI.
In 2013, GTA Online still needed to prove that idea would work.
You don't have to today.
Rockstar already knows that players can stay inside that universe for over a decade. You know updates can bring millions of people back. You know that Cars, properties, businesses and scams can keep an economy running for years.
And Take-Two knows how much all this can represent financially.
So the next Online doesn't just have to be a GTA Online with better graphics.
He will have to justify the evolution — and perhaps even the replacement — of one of the greatest continuous successes of franchise history.
What can we expect?
There are still more questions than answers.
Shall we all start from scratch?
Will the current GTA Online continue to exist?
Will Vice City and Leonida be expanded over the next few years?
Will we have an even bigger economy?
Will players have more freedom to create?
It will exist Cross-play?
When will this experience reach the PC?
And perhaps the most complicated question of all: how will Rockstar convince millions of players to leave behind a virtual life built for more than ten years?
We don't know yet.
But after all that GTA Online has become, it's hard to imagine that the future of GTA VI will end when the Campaign credits are starting to rise.