GTA 6 Rumor Would Be A First (& Change The Franchise Forever)

At some point in early December 2023, the first trailer for the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6 will be released by developer Rockstar Games. While the announcement of a first official look at the game was met with online fanfare from the GTA fanbase, it has not stopped the near-constant stream of leaks and rumors – and one rumor in particular is incredibly interesting for story-mode aficionados. A recent leak on the site GTAForums, alleges that Rockstar is planning to elongate the lifecycle of GTA 6 by releasing updates to keep players engrossed in a way that could change the franchise forever.

While GTA 6 has been the victim of an unprecedented number of leaks, including a series of unauthorized gameplay videos that revealed the inclusion of a female protagonist and a return to the classic setting of Vice City, the topic of post-launch rumors has been notably quiet – that is, until now. Though it should be taken with a grain of salt as it is an uncorroborated rumor, there is speculation that Rockstar Games will release a number of episodic single-player DLC expansions rather than a one-off single-player DLC as has been the case historically.

A Not-So-Outlandish Claim Made By A Reputable Source

Rumor Alleges That GTA 6 Will Have Episodic Single-Player Expansions

In a discussion concerning the possibility of Rockstar releasing single-player DLC for GTA 6, which took place on a GTAForum thread titled “NEXT GTA TRAILER OFFICIALLY TEASED – A Message from Rockstar Games,” notable Rockstar Games speculator, leaker of GTA 6 information, and well-respected forum member made a post that has caught the attention of many. In their post, Tez2 claims that Rockstar may plan to release regular episodic Single-Player expansions over GTA 6‘s entire lifecycle, rather than a few one-off DLC releases as was the case with GTA 4, or no Single-Player DLC releases as in GTA 5.

While GTA 5 was absent of any post-launch single-player content, this has not always been the case with games from the GTA franchise. Though GTA 5 was rumored to have initially been intended to have at least one single-player story mode expansion, its predecessor, GTA 4, had two episodic DLC packs – Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and Damned and Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony. Despite these examples of GTA franchise episodic expansions, Tesz2’s claim implies that throughout GTA 6‘s lifecycle, the game could receive a plethora of DLC expansions – released on a regular or semi-regular basis.

The GTAForum Leaker Speculates On Rockstar’s Motivation

Rockstar Has Been Accused of Crunch Culture Before

Developer Rockstar Games faced an endless barrage of controversies as a result of Red Dead Redemption 2’s crunch-driven development in 2018. However, a 2022 report by investigative journalist Jason Schreier, published in Bloomberg News, reported that the company behind the critically and commercially acclaimed GTA and Red Dead Redemption franchises was dedicated to implementing a healthier and less toxic workplace culture during the development of GTA 6. Rockstar Game’s concerted effort to limit crunch culture has seemingly been corroborated by the latest in a long line of GTA 6-related leaks to emerge from the self-reported largest GTA fan forum, GTAForums.

Tez2 alleges that the post-launch content of GTA 6 will focus more on the single-player story mode than its predecessors did. Rockstar has traditionally been a single-player focused studio, and though Single-Player DLC was considered for GTA 5, Rockstar elected to only provide the game with online mode expansions – perhaps as GTA Online is reported to generate a tremendous amount of money for the developer. Regarding the decision to release Single-Player DLC expansions they claim Rockstar will release for GTA 6, Tez2 notes, “It’s more of episodic content, aka expansions, than a singular SP DLC. They can do them yearly or biyearly. Which would help reduce crunch.”

Are Regular Episodic Single-Player Expansions Realistic?

GTA’s Live Service Game Future

The implementation of a number of annual or biannual episodic single-player DLC expansions, as the leak claims, could change the franchise forever – turning GTA into a pseudo, or full-blown live service game. While the enormously popular and profitable GTA Online will almost inevitably make a return with GTA 6, fans of the franchise who do not enjoy playing GTA Online, or are unable to, are likely rejoicing at the prospect of a series of dedicated single-player story mode expansions. However, until these rumors are confirmed by Rockstar Games, something the company essentially never does, it is perhaps for the best to take Tez2’s claims with a substantial grain of salt.

If Tesz2 is correct in their claims, by spreading out the development of large quantities of GTA 6‘s single-player content, Rockstar Games will most likely be able to limit crunch time. It is widely agreed that crunch hurts video games and developers, so hopefully, even though the initial release of Grand Theft Auto 6 may feature a somewhat modest amount of content (by Rockstar Games and GTA’s standards), the game itself will be of superior quality.