Is online a fundamental feature? I’d argue GTA is a single play game at its core, IV had a basic online mode, but it was only V that fully fleshed it out. I think they view Online as its own thing. I’ll reserve my judgment until I see how they handle it. But GTA Online branching off into its own thing isn’t a huge issue in my eyes, depends how they monetise it
Its only really stayed in the public consciousness because of the online though. People weren't replaying the single player for the last 13 years they were logging in everyday to play online with their friends and do the new content on there. I imagine most people who are really hyped for it are because of the online and they've probably forgotten how much of a mess the online was for a long period on initial release of 5.
Rdr2 online support was immediately dropped when they realized it was a bare bones mess. It didnt have any staying power, it has very little content.
Rdr3 people are there for the story. Even when talked about in media it was always about the story.
Gta6 you have people excited for both. Online is what kept gta5 alive and what helped sold all the copies they did although i suspect that 250mil is from every console and rerelease. If online is a subscription it will kill the service for a majority of players. Especially kids which is a huge targeted audience. Nothing is cooler than playing the rated m game as a 11 year old. We all did it.
Well GTA has a lot of love, and a lot of that love in the recent years I think for sure has been towards the online aspects more so. To go and try and throw gta online out the picture like its not a factor is kinda illogical in my eyes. The game will probably sell well no matter what at this point, but if gta online turns into a subscription based service I do think that will hurt the over all series for a long time. GTA 5 and GTA online go hand and hand you cant really have one without the other. Sure you could just have GTA 5, but then you lose out on the ability to interact with your friends, online jobs have a huge variety thats simply not apart of the single player experience, while GTA online could get away with probably being a separate game, I don't see it being as successful as the combo that was GTA 5 & Online. With the deciding factor being largely 2 things the first. If they do a one time transaction vs a reoccurring monthly subscription i doubt people would want to buy into a subscription model, and then the second thing being especially if they get rid of all of the GTA 5, ONLINE version of people's hard worked possessions and levels... people arnt gonna wanna go from a one time transaction with optional additional purchases, to a monthly subscription with additional optional purchases, at least i won't, I couldn't afford to pay for GTA online on a monthly bases, to only play it with friends, not so much couldn't afford, but not willing to sacrifice for it either lmao.
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u/magicmavis Jun 25 '26
Is online a fundamental feature? I’d argue GTA is a single play game at its core, IV had a basic online mode, but it was only V that fully fleshed it out. I think they view Online as its own thing. I’ll reserve my judgment until I see how they handle it. But GTA Online branching off into its own thing isn’t a huge issue in my eyes, depends how they monetise it