After the massive reveal of Grand Theft Auto VI, players’ attention turned to an issue that Rockstar Games is currently unwilling to avoid. When will GTA VI Online be released? in a new article Forbes Journalist Paul Tassi looked into the possible reasons for the company’s silence and concluded that the online mode will likely launch much later than the main game.
Grand Theft Auto VI is set to release on November 19, 2026, but Rockstar has yet to announce a date or even a rough timeframe for when multiplayer will appear. In comparison, Grand Theft Auto V was released on September 17, 2013, and GTA Online launched just two weeks later, on October 1.
According to Forbes, Rockstar is currently focused on completing Grand Theft Auto VI itself. The game has been in the works for 13 years, has been delayed multiple times, and the developers are still putting the finishing touches on it. After such a long wait, the company is unlikely to be willing to risk massive issues at launch, so a full launch of the online mode is unlikely to be a priority at the same time as the main game.
There’s also a financial reason to take your time. GTA Online continues to generate significant revenue for Take-Two Interactive 13 years after its release. According to the author of the article, players spent approximately $744 million on in-game purchases on the service in 2020, and GTA Online now brings in approximately $400 million in annual revenue.
Rockstar also has to deal with audience switching between the two games. Many players have been playing GTA Online for over a decade, so suddenly ending support for the old service after launching a new mode may not be the best solution. Presumably, the company could wait until GTA Online revenue drops and then choose when launching GTA VI Online would have the greatest financial impact, preserving the old service for those who don’t want to start progressing over again.
The journalist himself believes that the most likely scenario is to launch GTA VI Online a year or two after the release of Grand Theft Auto VI, rather than a few weeks later like GTA Online. However, there is no official news on this matter yet, so we can only wait for news from the developers.