There aren't many sure bets in video games, but GTA 6 is definitely one of the few you can guarantee will be a big launch. The powers that be looking after Rockstar's long-awaited sequel are so confident, the prospect of players modding their games to circumvent the studio's paid-for services doesn't scare them whatsoever.
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, addressed the issue during a shareholder Q&A. "Our purchase of FiveM reflected our support of certain consumers' desires to engage as a creator with our intellectual property," he says. "We've allowed modding in many of our other games. We're just not religious on the topic. The FiveM business is a profitable business for us."
FiveM is a custom multiplayer framework for GTA 5. It has a sibling platform called RedM for Red Dead Redemption 2, and Rockstar bought out the team behind both in 2023. Other, similar portals have since been shut down because FiveM is essentially the 'official' resource for such things.
With GTA 6, there'll likely be a rash of other sites and forums to help people modify the game in some way. They'll piggyback off existing methods of jailbreaking the console. Zelnick isn't phased, because he's aware the crime sandbox is going to bring in plenty of money globally.
"The mission of this company is to create the best entertainment on Earth and bring it to consumers around the world," he states. "If we do that right, the monetization takes care of itself, and I think that you're going to see that from us in this fiscal year and in future fiscal years."
Whatever the critical consensus of the sixth Grand Theft Auto winds up being, I sincerely doubt anyone involved will need to worry too much about their bottom line, even if a few players manage to duck out of paying for any kind of microtransactions. And it all kicks off in nine days.
