Rockstar Games has been front and center of gaming news ever since the huge leak of the developer's upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 game. The leak revealed two of the game's main protagonists but made no mention of where or not players can expect an extension of the current GTA Online within Grand Theft Auto 5.
Considering the success of its predecessors, it would be logical for players to expect GTA 6 to feature an online multiplayer mode. Despite there being no confirmation, some fans continue to wonder where Rockstar's plans for these modes are heading, particularly with the development team having already said its goodbyes to GTA 5's Online.
More Interiors
One of the wishes among many of the fans of the franchise is the addition of more interiors for players to explore, possibly finding secrets or discovering rare NPC interactions. While this is a big hope for GTA 6's story mode, it will certainly be a necessary addition to any new multiplayer mode.
Giving players access to buildings such as banks, stores, and other locations will contribute toward Rockstar providing the optimal experience. With the rumors of plans to have GTA 6's map expand over time within its story mode, it will be interesting to see whether this will be included in GTA 6: Online.
Friendly Fire Disabled Lobbies
Players who are familiar with GTA 5's multiplayer will know how chaotic a large majority of lobbies can be, as players high and low-ranked target and kill everybody in the session. Whilst it is possible to avoid confrontation and unsuspected attacks from other players when in passive mode, this disables the player's ability to equip or use any weapons.
This can be very disruptive for players who are attempting certain missions or plan to engage in combat with NPCs. To alleviate this issue, Rockstar should introduce a system that allows players to opt for lobbies that stop players from being able to attack one another while still having the ability to use their accessories.
Removal Of Futuristic Weapons And Vehicles
Akin to the Saints Row franchise, Rockstar's addition of vehicles such as the Oppressor and weapons like the Unholy Hellbringer remove the feel and theme of a grounded and more realistic experience. While some of these are not present within GTA 5's story mode, their presence in multiplayer can be seen to offer an unfair advantage to players who own them.
Depending on the direction Rockstar developers choose to take a potential GTA 6 online mode, it would be suitable for a more realistic take and a theme more aligned with the game's story mode rather than one with an unserious tone.
Overhauled Character Customization
The biggest critique of GTA 5's online mode surrounds its character creation and the lack of customization options that were given to players. Creating character faces was only possible by choosing parents, some of which are main characters in other Rockstar titles such as John Marston and Nico Belic.
Players would then be able to fine-tune to their liking, rather than giving players the freedom to adjust their character's appearance fully. Titles such as Monster Hunter World and other RPG games contain extensive customization options. Considering the GTA series' RPG elements, it seems plausible that Rockstar will look to change the customization options entirely and add in a new set of more realistic tuning sliders rather than continue to rely on presets.
Fewer Microtransactions
For players who were new to the multiplayer mode and may not have a lobby of friends to play with who have higher rankings, there is a long grind with difficulty in earning enough in-game currency to purchase decent items, houses, or start businesses. Not only are these expensive in-game, but the prices for the Shark Cards to earn the in-game currency are also very high. This comes with the current controversy of microtransactions and in-game currency in many other franchises.
While this certainly comes down to the player deciding whether the long grind or microtransactions are the best way to go, it can often feel like a pay-to-win scenario as trying to level up characters can take a long time considering the higher levels of other players in lobbies. The likelihood of this remaining in a potential new online mode is high, but Rockstar must balance this to a fair and reasonable degree so that it does not affect players' experiences.
More Heists
GTA 5 is a game that is held to high praise due to its heist missions online and, most specifically, in its story mode. Rockstar managed to provide realistic and engaging experiences here with setup missions and plans toward action in-game.
The benefit of the online mode is the ability for Rockstar to implement updates and new locations for heists over time, which was evident in GTA 5. In light of GTA 6 containing its own multiplayer mode, Rockstar would be giving fans an incredible service if they are able to include more heists within its base release, and further increase the amount of GTA Online heists in post-release updates.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently in development.