- A former Rockstar Games developer said GTA Online was viewed internally as a major risk before release.
- GTA Online launched in October 2013, and the team was concerned that it could be completed in just a few hours.
- The mode later became Rockstar Games’ most important long-term success.
GTA Online has been the single most successful Rockstar Games product to date, giving the team effectively infinite resources for GTA 6. This is clear after watching the recent GTA 6 footage, but Rockstar Games did not see this success coming.
In fact, the team initially had a lot of doubts about the game mode.
Why it matters: GTA Online in 2013 wasn’t the team’s first attempt at an online environment for its titles, but this offering ended up eclipsing everything that came before it.
Speaking to Eldorado, former Rockstar Games developer Matt Freedman said there were internal concerns that GTA Online might be “in trouble” before launch.
As per the developer, Rockstar Games was concerned that the mode was very bare-bones, featuring just four hours of content. The team was almost certain that GTA Online would fail.
Rockstar Games itself treated the mode as an afterthought at first, with Matt Freedman putting minimal effort into its development. Of course, this meant that GTA Online did not impress right off the bat, but it ended up becoming Grand Theft Auto’s single biggest release over time.
They came up to me and said, “We’ve got four hours of content for the online mode. We are in so much trouble.”
Of course, GTA Online’s success speaks for itself today, with the game having received numerous updates since 2013. Expectations are now even higher for what Rockstar Games will bring to the table for GTA 6’s online experience.
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[News Reporter]
Bawal is an MBBS student by day and a gaming journalist by night. He has been gaming since childhood, growing fond of the creativity and innovation of the industry. His career as a gaming journalist started one year ago, and his journey has allowed him to write reviews, previews, and features for various sites. Bawal has also been cited in reputed websites such as Screenrant, PCGamesN, WCCFTech, GamesRadar, and more.
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