GTA 6 is a 'singleplayer experience', leaving me to question what's going on with GTA Online

Jason and Lucia from GTA 6. — (Image credit: Rockstar)

Rockstar is known for being very weird with its marketing and releases, telling us as little as feasibly possible. It can afford to, I suppose. We're all gonna be tuned in and coughing up the cash for GTA 6 anyhow—and what a lot of cash it is.

GTA 6 is launching on November 19, 2026, and Rockstar has confirmed it's a "singleplayer experience". That leaves the elephant in the room—its money-printing GTA Online mode—up in the air. In fact, it's not mentioned what's happening with GTAO whatsoever.

Given how popular and lucrative it is for the studio, I think we've all assumed that a GTA 6 Online is happening, despite the developer's radio silence. Plus, a "top secret" feature for 32-player online lobbies was revealed in court documents, which all but confirms some kind of update is coming.

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That said, it's not out of the ordinary for Rockstar to launch its multiplayer modes after the singleplayer game. Cast your mind back 13 years, and you'll recall that GTA Online was originally released two weeks after GTA 5. Likewise, Red Dead Online was in early access for players who owned Red Dead Redemption 2 almost a month later.

My big question is what exactly does it look like? Rockstar could borrow Activision's approach to Call of Duty Warzone and replace GTA Online with a revamped version. Is it free to play? Is it available standalone, like Red Dead Online now is? What if they slapped a '2' on the end and called it a sequel?

Potentially, it could even have a subscription service—GTA 6 is expensive, and Rockstar is very much pushing players towards the Ultimate Edition to squeeze some extra profit. If you pre-order GTA 6, you'll get a free month of GTA+, a membership program that gives you a bunch of freebies in GTA Online. I wouldn't be surprised to see this subscription expanded with GTA 6. With no word on what's next for GTA Online, the door's wide open.

All we know for certain is that GTA 6 doesn't launch with any inherent online components. That's not to say that there won't be a new GTA Online thing at the same time, or after launch, however.

Rory has made the fatal error of playing way too many live service games at once, and somehow still finding time for everything in between. Sure, he’s an expert at Destiny 2, Call of Duty, and more, but at what cost? He’s even sunk 1,000 hours into The Elder Scrolls Online over the years. At least he put all those hours spent grinding challenges to good use over the years as a freelancer and guides editor. In his spare time, he’s also an avid video creator, often breaking down the environmental design of his favourite games. If you can’t track him down, he’s probably lost in a cave with a bunch of dwarves shouting “rock and stone” to no end.