There's a lot we don't yet know about GTA 6, but perhaps the biggest mystery of all is what it will mean for GTA Online. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says one thing's for sure: GTA Online ain't going anywhere, and he's not worried about fans dropping it when GTA 6 launches.
"I don't know where GTA Online performance goes after the release of GTA 6," Zelnick tells The Game Business. "I have no reason to believe that the performance will not continue."
That makes it sound as if GTA Online will continue in its current form after GTA 6, but we can still really only guess at the details, and the possibilities are effectively endless. GTA Online could continue purely in its current form, but that seems unrealistic when all the GTA 6 players on current-gen consoles get used to a new graphical standard. GTA Online could be reborn as a new experience with GTA 6 as a base, but that seems unrealistic when it's making so much money with PS4, Xbox One, and PC players who may not want (or be able to afford) a new console.
Perhaps the most likely answer is that the old GTA Online will continue to exist, and something new will launch alongside GTA 6, maybe with some connection to the existing mode. That's pure speculation, but we do know that Rockstar's working on some sort of GTA 6-specific online mode, which was revealed as part of the court proceedings over the company's alleged union-busting last year.
Either way, Zelnick has been consistent in saying that GTA Online's success will be unaffected by the upcoming launch. "I have every reason to believe we'll continue to support GTA Online," he said as part of an investor Q&A earlier this year. "There's a great community that loves it, that stays engaged, and again, in this quarter, Rockstar has shown that when you deliver great additional content, despite how long GTA Online has been at market, people show up."
But, of course, Zelnick has a major interest in telling investors that the GTA Online cash cow will continue to produce its sweet, golden milk. The Rockstar leak earlier this year suggested that GTA Online was making somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 million a week, a bit of impromptu news that quickly sent Take-Two's stock price soaring. It's no wonder the company doesn't wanna rock the boat.
