With Grand Theft Auto 6 slated to arrive on Nov. 19, anticipation is at a fever pitch — though at least it should land on time after several delays. (Presumably?)
That timing naturally sparks a major point of curiosity about 2026’s most anticipated release: What will its online component look like? In its usual habit of keeping details close to the chest, Rockstar has not yet confirmed whether GTA 6 will offer an online mode. Still, given how successful GTA Online has been, most people expect that it will.
GTA Online is still going strong, currently running its yearly weed-themed 420 celebration, which continues through April 29. Based on a recent leak involving Rockstar’s financial data, GTA Online averaged $1.3 million per day in revenue between September 2025 and April 2026. The breach did not reveal any narrative details about GTA 6, nor did it share information about the company’s plans for the wider GTA ecosystem. Even so, it does suggest that GTA Online is generating even more money than previously believed. That gives us a new foundation for informed guesses (or unfettered speculation) about what Rockstar could be working toward.
Two main possibilities come to mind. Rockstar might roll out an entirely new GTA Online that lives inside the world of GTA 6, or it could weave elements from GTA 6—including events and characters—into the existing GTA Online. There’s also a faint third option: GTA Online could remain separate from the GTA 5 universe, without any connection to GTA 6. That outcome feels unlikely, especially since Rockstar clearly wants to keep the revenue flowing and has shown it knows how to do exactly that. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the first two scenarios:
Rockstar unveils an all-new GTA Online
This is the more exciting idea, even if it seems less likely. We know Rockstar is both highly ambitious and famously protective of its secrets, and the budget for GTA 6 is rumored to be well into the billions. Maybe they’ve been building this updated GTAO alongside the main game all along—and that could be what the earlier Red Dead Online crew was working on after Rockstar shut that title down in July 2022.
Does that mean Rockstar could be developing a next-gen online sandbox meant to take on Fortnite and Minecraft, running in parallel with the most eagerly awaited single-player game in history? If that’s true, it would be pretty thrilling. They might even price it aggressively. Still, trying to reinvent two different formats at the same time—one being the huge single-player blockbuster and the other being the live-service model—is an enormous undertaking, even for a studio with Rockstar’s track record. Honestly, the longer you sit with the idea, the harder it feels to make sense. So, let’s look at the alternative.
Rockstar integrates GTA 6 content into the existing GTA Online
We already know the current version of GTA Online is thriving, pulling in about $1.3 million every day. On Steam, its simultaneous player counts typically sit in the mid-to-high five figures. That large audience creates steady, passive returns that Rockstar probably wouldn’t want to walk away from. However, asking players to jump to a new release that may demand new equipment could push away a meaningful portion of the community—especially since many seem content with the current game. That risk feels even higher during a stretch when both consoles and components keep getting more expensive.
The current GTAO runs on most current and previous-generation hardware, excluding Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. Yet, GTA 6 (presumably) uses a more advanced iteration of Rockstar’s in-house graphics engine, and so far the studio has only confirmed launches on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. We haven’t seen any official information about a PC release, much less older-gen ports. Keeping GTA Online as it is would allow Rockstar to deliver some form of GTA 6 content to players on PS4, Xbox One, and PC quickly—potentially even without requiring people to buy the base game or pick up a new console.
There’s no solid reason to expect any GTA 6 content to be “free,” or even particularly “cheap.” A standalone edition of GTA Online (without GTA 5) currently costs between $10 and $20 depending on the day and the retailer, though it’s also monetized further through microtransactions like Shark Cards and GTA+ subscriptions. Rockstar will have to find the right balance. New GTA 6-tied content could draw additional players into Online and potentially magnify what looks set to be a huge pop-culture moment. Still, if the additions start to feel too repetitive, that could damage sales of the new game. On the other hand, changes that are only cosmetic may be dismissed as low-effort ways to pull more money from players.
A fully fresh version of GTA Online could end up feeling like a closed-off “walled garden,” but leaving the original version running helps avoid that problem. From a creative standpoint, this path is undoubtedly less thrilling, but it does appear to be the safer bet. In fact, the team might not even need to bring a new Vice City map into the mix right away. Maybe Jason and Lucia end up taking a break in Los Santos, which could set the stage for some absurd criminal misadventures. Either way, if GTA 6 is still on track for its Nov. 19 launch, Rockstar won’t be able to keep these plans under wraps for much longer.
The horndogs on the GTA 6 subreddit actually raise some pretty interesting points
Fans are curious about just how mischievous Rockstar’s sequel will become