GTA Online

Grand Theft Auto Online, commonly known as GTA Online is an online multiplayer “sandbox” game from Rockstar North. GTA Online is an action-adventure game that allows players to create unique characters to use through expansive story driven gameplay. Originally released on October 1, 2013 as a free companion to Grant Theft Auto 5, which had released a month earlier on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. [1]

Upon release, each created character could free roam the entire Grand Theft Auto V map of San Andreas, including the major city of Los Santos and the rural Blaine County to the north. The State of San Andreas is a fictional stand-in for real life California, with Los Santos being Los Angeles, and Blaine County being various rural areas of California including wine county villas, the Alamo Sea as a stand-in for the Salton Sea, and the Pacific Coast Highway.

San Andreas is an extreme parody of west coast culture, from the incredibly shallow citizens of Los Santos to the drug infested slums of Blaine County which features a very racist/inbred citizenry of “white trash” nonplayable (NPC) characters. Every aspect of the game is riddled with heightened stereotypes and crude jokes that has become a very apropos social commentary on American capitalistic society. From conversations between NPCs to radio ads, and billboards littered across the map, the player is emersed in this vulgar take on American culture.

At the release of GTA Online, each character took on the persona of a street level criminal. For most, money was hard to come by with small time jobs that could be taken from NPC crime bosses, selling stolen vehicles, or robbing convenience stores or armored vehicles. The primary focus of many players was 1 v 1 battles on the streets of Los Santos. This gave GTA Online the reputation of a “griefer’s paradise.”

Griefer- a person who harasses or deliberately provokes other players or members in order to spoil their enjoyment.

With Grand Theft Auto V’s and GTA Online’s popularity (GTAV is the fastest and highest grossing entertainment media of all time earning Billion in the first three days of launch, and over .5 Billion as of 2024) expansion to retain players has been at the forefront of Rockstar’s priority. Since the debut of GTA Online, there have been over forty updates via downloadable content (DLC) which have been both big and small. Some DLC’s have just been updates that release clothing and vehicles, while others have fundamentally changed the game. On December 10, 2024 the Agents of Sabotage DLC released, the latest update as of this writing. [2]

These updates have allowed the players to go from street level criminals to motorcycle club presidents, business tycoons, gunrunners, bank and casino robbers, and more. In fact, the Doomsday Heist DLC allowed the player to team with up to three other players and literally save the world. GTA Online went from a game where players stole cars, and robbed convenience stores to running guns, selling all kinds of illegal drugs, running nightclubs, owning arcades, chop shops, bail offices, and more.

GTA Online has given the player the ability to “grind” and make millions of dollars. Something that players couldn’t have dreamed of upon the release of the game. To go with this newfound wealth Rockstar regularly adds premium vehicles, property, and clothing for the player to purchase. Initial release vehicles such as modest cars, and commercial planes and vehicles have been replaced with supercars, futuristic vehicles, and military jets.

Grind- the act of repeating a set of actions to achieve a desired result, often over a long period of time.

This wealth has set the player base into two categories- grinders and griefers. In GTA Online, grinders try to make money while griefers try to prevent them from doing so by blowing up their products. This conflict has been a balancing act for Rockstar from the beginning. With every new “griefer” type vehicle such as the Oppressor Mk 2 (a flying motorcycle loaded with 20 homing missiles) they try to counter act for grinders such as mission vehicles being unable to be locked on to, and “Imani Tech” vehicles that can be added with additional armor and lock-on jammers.

Some of the most popular GTA Online DLC’s have been the Gunrunning, Bikers, The Diamond Casino Heist, The Cayo Perico Heist, Adventures in Finance and Felonies, The Contract, and The Heists Update. These updates brought about new money making methods, new vehicles and weapons, and new clothing to the game that helped foster player retention for over a decade.

As of December of 2024, well over a decade after release, GTA Online has had a 30 day active player base of over 24 million players with over 91 million hours streamed live on Twitch. [3]

GTA Online Platform Timeline

GTA Online initially released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2013.

  • PlayStation 4 & Xbox One released in November of 2014.
  • PC finally received Grand Theft Auto V and GTA Online in April of 2015.
  • The original PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 version of GTA Online shut down on December 16, 2021.
  • Players who previously purchased the game for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were able to port their profiles to the next gen consoles PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X/S in March of 2022.
  • Also in March of 2022, GTA Online was made available as a standalone purchase free from Grand Theft Auto V on PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X/S.
  • As of January 24, 2024, GTA Online would no longer be available for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1.

GTA Online Story Timeline

Upon release, GTA Online was considered a prequel to the events of the Grand Theft Auto V story mode by several months. However, in 2017’s Gunrunning DLC, the timeline jumps ahead to present day. Every DLC since then has progressed in present day. No explanation was given for the time jump but because of the continued popularity of GTA Online, the player base accepted the jump as a necessity to move along the advancing technology and larger narrative of the online story as compared to the Grand Theft Auto V story.

GTA Online vs Grand Theft Auto V

Even though to access GTA Online, the player had to own a copy of Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar considered them two separate games that shared the same setting and engine. GTA Online has had cameos from Grand Theft Auto V characters such as Ron Jakowski, Trevor’s lacky from GTAV story mode hosting the Blaine County Radio Community Hour on Blaine County Talk Radio, which can be heard in any vehicle while in the Blaine County region of the GTA Online map. He also is a contact for several missions in the game.

Grand Theft Auto V protagonists Trevor Philips and Franklin Clinton and his friend Lamar Davis also make appearances in GTA Online. Many other characters crossover as well including Simeon Yetarian, Lester Crest, and Martin Madrazo.

GTA Online Legacy Character and Real life Celebrity Appearances

Legacy characters from previous Grand Theft Auto games make appearances as well such as Tony Prince, Lazlow Jones, and Malc. Interestingly, beginning with the Cayo Perico Heist DLC and later in The Contract DLC, GTA Online has real life celebrity cameos from Dr. Dre, Jimmy lovine, and DJ Pooh.

GTA Online in the Future

In December of 2023, Rockstar released the trailer to Grand Theft Auto VI. As of December 2024, the trailer has had 224 million views on YouTube alone. The trailer ends with a release window of 2025. No word has been given on how the Grand Theft Auto VI release will affect GTA Online, but everyone expects an online version in the new map of the state of Leonida a fictional stand-in for the state of Florida, with a confirmed primary setting of Vice City, a fictional version of Miami.

Related-topics

References

  1. Rockstar Games Wiki [ Grand Theft Auto Online ] December 14, 2024
  2. GTA Boom [ GTA V Downloadable Content History (GTA Online DLC) ] December 14, 2024
  3. Active Player [ Grand Theft Auto V Live Player Count and Statistics ] December 14, 2024

Contributors

Last Modified: January 14, 2025