Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders started on Thursday, with lots of folks presumably eager to spend as much as $100 on the hotly anticipated game before its November release. But one major question remains: What's happening with the online mode?
The GTA Online component of Grand Theft Auto V has kept that 13-year-old game relevant across three console generations, with a recent leak suggesting Rockstar makes as much as $500 million annually from microtransactions alone. One would think that means GTA VI will have a similar online offering available at launch, but that isn't the case. Per a Rockstar statement given to IGN, as well as all available marketing language on digital storefronts, GTA VI is a "single-player experience."
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That means there will be no online component at launch, nor has Rockstar announced any intention of adding one after launch. Sadly, that is all the concrete information anyone can provide right now.
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However, that doesn't mean all hope is lost. It's worth remembering that both GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 launched as solo experiences and got online modes later, though it was only a matter of months in both cases. Given that Rockstar hasn't even said if there will be a new GTA Online experience for VI, it's probably safe to assume the wait will be longer this time.
The fact that the existing GTA Online is so wildly successful (with no signs of slowing down) means Rockstar isn't necessarily incentivized to make a new one right away. It also means Rockstar has to decide if it wants to keep two different GTA Online experiences running at the same time, should GTA VI ever get one. As IGN noted, Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two currently supports two different NBA 2K Online games in the Asian market; the first launched in 2012 and its sequel in 2017, but they're both popular enough to coexist to this day.
Unfortunately, we don't have a definitive answer on when we'll get a new GTA Online mode tied to the new game, but hey, single-player games aren't so bad. I'm sure there will be plenty of hours of entertainment to be had in GTA VI as it is.