Grand Theft Auto Online has been popular for over a decade, and if a new hint in the game’s script is anything to go by, developer Rockstar Games might be prepping the service for enduring relevance in a smart way. As the distinct multiplayer component of GTA 5, GTA Online has received a steady stream of updates ever since its launch, continuing to expand with content additions despite the lack of major DLC for the single-player experience. As an ongoing financial success, it’s no surprise that Rockstar keeps investing in the service, but that isn’t likely to last forever.
The inevitable shift in Rockstar’s development priorities is heralded by the upcoming release of GTA 6, which is currently set for a nebulous 2025 release window. Once that arrives, making it the new primary platform for GTA‘s near future seems inevitable, and the regular schedule of GTA Online releases will likely start to dry up in the favor of GTA 6 content. Although it’s not yet clear what a new online component might look like, there’s no way around the fact that GTA Online is getting a bit long in the tooth.
Related
The First Item From GTA 6 Just Got Quietly Added To GTA Online
A dedicated Grand Theft Auto Online player shares their discovery of an in-game item that’s seemingly based on the Grand Theft Auto 6 reveal trailer.
GTA Online Might Be Getting A Mission Creator
A Newly Added Script File Seems Revealing
The most recent content update for GTA Online, Bottom Dollar Bounties, released on June 25, and it brought an interesting hidden addition with it. As noted in a tweet from Tez2, a new script resource called “public_mission_creator.ysc” is now included in the game files. It’s currently empty, but the name certainly seems telling of a direction that Rockstar might be exploring for the future of GTA Online.
Allowing GTA Online users to design some of their own material isn’t a new concept, with a beta version of a Content Creator first appearing only a few months after the game’s launch in 2013. It’s a useful tool for creating maps, with support to lay out maps for different game modes like Deathmatch and Races. At the end of the day, its utility doesn’t extend beyond creating maps and publishing them as basic Job activities, so although there’s a lot of fun to be had, it isn’t a robust replacement for the full spectrum of official GTA Online content.
GTA Online
doesn’t allow mods, so any attempts to play modded content online require a third-party online solution and privately hosted servers.
A mission creator, on the other hand, would significantly open up the possibilities of what the community can easily create. Contact Missions provide comparatively structured content that more directly resembles the tasks a player might take on in single-player GTA. The promise of monetary rewards is a big part of the appeal in Contact Missions, but even without that lure, they can be a fun activity when the sheer chaos of general GTA Online shenanigans isn’t fully hitting the spot.
A Mission Creator Could Keep GTA Online Fresh
If a mission creator is in fact coming to GTA Online, it’s the perfect way to extend the lifespan of the service even once development shifts to a newer platform. Games like Mario Maker and Dreams have already proven that community content is enough to provide a reasonably complete experience on its own, and the ability to mod new quests and activities is a lot of what’s kept easily moddable games like Skyrim popular for so many years. Online services losing support can be especially devastating, so transferring that creation ability to the community would be a great move.
Related
15 Best Things To Buy First In GTA 5 Online (Weapons, Cars, Businesses & Properties)
GTA Online can be a daunting place for new players when stepping into Los Santos, but it can be made much easier by buying the right things early.
Community Contact Missions obviously wouldn’t meet the same standards of consistency as official Rockstar material, and it also seems likely that Rockstar would restrict how payouts work to ensure that a mission creator wouldn’t just be a glorified infinite money glitch. There’s always room for incredible community content, however, and good filtration and sorting system could easily make finding great missions simple.
One empty script file isn’t enough to guarantee such a significant change in the future of GTA Online, but it definitely implies that Rockstar’s at least working on the concept. For now, there are always plenty of modded private servers and more to enjoy, but getting proper support for custom Contact Missions would open up Grand Theft Auto Online in a way that it never has been before.
Source: Tez2/Twitter
GTA Online
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS3 , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox 360 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X|S
- Released
- October 1, 2013
- System
- PC , PlayStation , Xbox