-7.jpg?q=50&fit=contain&w=1140&h=&dpr=1.5)
No one can argue just how much of an immense success Grand Theft Auto 5 was and still is. To this day, Rockstar's game has continued to break profitable records and is now the most profitable entertainment product of all time. This is in part due to the popularity of its online mode, GTA Online, something that has been able to stand on its own for years, and bring in new players month after month.
With Grand Theft Auto 6 announced for development, it’s no surprise that long-patient fans share their excitement and wish for Rockstar Games’ biggest title of perhaps the decade. After years of experience and learning with GTA Online, it’s time to see what lessons will be carried over to GTA 6 — and what improvements Rockstar can make.
10 Improved Mission Design
As enjoyable as GTA Online can be, if there is one thing that can get repetitive for players, it’s the missions. Most of them follow the same structure: drive to a location, wait at a location, shoot people at said location, and leave the location. It’s a tried and tested formula that can get boring after a while.
For GTA 6, a wider variety of missions would be great; for example, missions that feature more nail-biting car chases with the cops or stealth segments that require the player to steal items. There are a lot of directions GTA 6’s Online missions can go that aren’t the repetitive Point A to Point B.
9 Stable Economy
When players complete a heist in GTA Online for the first time, they'll feel like a king, ready to splash the cash on the high life they deserve for their hard work. Over $1,000,000 wait in the player's Maze Bank account. Riches galore! Or so it seemed.
Making money can be a grind, especially for unfamiliar players. Saving money for great items is even harder. The economy of GTA 6 needs to factor in the diversity of players’ time so that those who can’t grind over $10,000,000 can still have similar benefits to those that can, without missing out on fun new vehicles and properties.
8 An Evolving Map
One of the many reasons that Fortnite remains successful is that it constantly evolves itself and its map. Fortnite makes seasonal changes to keep itself fresh, and GTA 6’s Online could certainly take cues from this.
GTA Online’s map can sometimes feel stale to explore. The game is almost a decade old, so it only makes sense. By incorporating an evolving map, as rumored, Rockstar Games makes their world a fun one to return to and see what’s new. If GTA continues to evolve GTA+, fans would want more from the game they pay a service for.
7 Grief-Free Lobbies
Since its inception, GTA Online has been plagued by griefers: players that simply want to take the fun away from others by blowing up cars or killing other players repeatedly. This can be frustrating, especially to new players that have just started, or those just looking to have fun in public lobbies.
To counter this, GTA 6’s Online should incorporate a similar system to the original Red Dead Online, in which players could still use all their weapons, but could not target or damage other players. Although, with griefers eradicated, players would no longer be able to enjoy watching them get their deserved karma.
6 Fun Vehicles And Weapons
There are some great vehicles and weapons in GTA Online, though unfortunately for some, they can be extremely expensive, like a lot of things in the game. The most fun vehicles are those that embrace the silliness that belongs in open-world games, something Saints Row does well. By giving players access to Batmobiles and a flying DeLorean, it allows them to enjoy some crazy adventures.
As well as great vehicles, the game has alien tech weapons to purchase. This is something GTA 6’s Online should bring over, as it lets players explore the creativity and fun that can exist in a real-world setting, with a wacky element attached.
5 More Customization Options
When players have the option to make their characters, they are going to want to make them unique to tailor to their personality. With Red Dead Online, there was a step in the right direction. Players could change the build of their character, and even their teeth. It was a lot more in-depth than GTA Online’s heritage system.
By dedicating more time and resources to the player creator, accessories, and clothing, each character in GTA 6’s Online could be unique. This it would also encourage further player creativity in recreating iconic characters like Johnny Silverhand from Cyberpunk 2077.
4 Open World Factions
To make the world of GTA 6 Online feel more alive, Rockstar Games should incorporate player decisions and allegiances. Rockstar’s Social Club has Crews, which is a way for players to group up and share a logo and a clan tag, but not much else benefits from this.
By adding factions, players could be actively involved in unique missions for their group judging by whom they side with. They could actively help their gang with missions, and engage in turf wars that involve everyone on the map. There could potentially even be police factions to break up the criminal activity.
3 Better Activity Rewards
One of the reasons that players return to GTA Online is because of how much fun they can have in the activities. Rockstar Games were smart to include a player creator feature, where players can make their own deathmatches and racetracks.
It would be great for GTA 6 to continue this feature, with a lot more tools at the creator’s disposal, but more importantly, it would be great to get better rewards from these activities. Most players are focused on spending their time getting money, so it would be great if Rockstar gave bonuses to players who constantly play these game modes, to encourage them to come back to the community.
2 Explorable Buildings
Something that feels lacking from the giant map of GTA Online is the empty buildings. Most exteriors have nothing inside, and exist purely to fill the map. It would be great for GTA 6 to take advantage of Next-Gen and allow players to explore different buildings, and make discoveries inside them. Fans still remember exploring the spooky abandoned mineshaft.
With an ability to access buildings, there should be nothing stopping Rockstar from letting players own actual homes, complete with their unique gardens and placed furniture based on the player's achievements and goals for their home in GTA 6.
1 Dedicated Heist Content
A key feature in the story modes of both Grand Theft Auto 5 and GTA Online was that of heists. These missions were entirely unique, and could take an entire day to set up and execute, yet they felt so rewarding and fun to complete. GTA Online has a great deal of heists that player can enjoy with up to three other players.
What added to the challenge of heists was that things could go wrong fast. They entirely depended on the teamwork and difficulty of the heist. A competent team was needed. GTA 6 should evolve this to include more heists and more teamwork, a lot like the heist centric PAYDAY 2, which still has an impressive player count.