Look, I know people like their fast cars and big guns as they stick up banks and narrowly escape the man. I enjoyed playing GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption when I was a teenager, so I get it. But after playing through Red Dead Redemption 2 four times and still cherishing the story it tells, it makes me hope for more from Rockstar's next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.
While GTA started out with the sillier games, and the first Saints Row told a tamer story of gang life, the roles quickly switched. Saints Row 4 saw you take the role of the President of the United States as you fend off an alien invasion in a simulation using your superpowers. GTA 5, while still featuring some of that strangeness in its side missions, opted for a slower and more consequential story - though it’s not as gritty as GTA 4. Red Dead 2 has only solidified the significance of a darker story, so surely that means we'll see that tone cemented into the core of GTA 6, right? Not necessarily.
We all know GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 are two of the most popular and brilliantly crafted open worlds in the past decade. However, if you ask fans what they love about GTA 5, the answer will hardly be the story. No, it'll be the sandbox, the guns and cars you get to play with, and most prominently - the online mode. Only a few will say they love it for the well-paced and serious story, and even then, let's be honest: the story is weak - it's good, but not great. These are characters that never feel quite real or connected, coupled with bland job after job, score after score.
But with Red Dead Redemption 2, most people will say that they love it for the story, the depth of the characters, and its world. Less will confess a fondness for the online mode - disdain if anything - or the spontaneity of the gameplay. The love is still there, that's for sure, but the appreciation falls to the narrative more than anything. People love the rag-tag group of outlaws, and you cheer them on because you care about them - you want them to get out of that life and to be okay in the end. However, the crowd that loves Red Dead Redemption 2 for these reasons is generally a different crowd from the fans of GTA - not always, but there's often a distinction.
So while we have seen Rockstar lean into a serious and slow-paced tone with some of its later games, would it really stick with it going forward? I can only hope so. On one hand, Red Dead Redemption 2 was highly regarded and won multiple awards for its masterfully crafted and heartfelt experience, earning limitless praise and recognition. On the other hand, GTA 5 makes a fuck-tonne of money. Ask a CEO to pick which one they like the sound of more, and we can safely guess the answer - and with GTA+ becoming a subscription service for a nine-year-old game, it will strike some concern among fans.
GTA Online was where Rockstar nailed their vision for the series. The online mode of GTA 4 was fun enough to mess around in, but it was with the fifth game that the scope and scale could finally be achieved. That continued in the years to follow, and whether planned or not, no single-player DLC ever came - it was all online-focused content, including returning characters from the story, and now GTA+.
Red Dead Online, however… well, it never had a chance. Rockstar knew it couldn’t stand close to GTA in terms of success or longevity, so why try? Instead, the focus fell on the story of Red Dead Redemption 2 rather than the online mode, and that worked out well for the quality and direction of its narrative. However, I can’t say that I can see the same panning out for GTA 6, with the story being prioritized over GTA 6 Online, and that could spell trouble for just how significant of a story the game will tell.
I don't expect Rockstar to step away from the GTA formula entirely - the game carries a certain identity, after all. But maybe Rockstar could leave the online mode to explore the wackier side of things, and use the story to tell a deeper narrative about how crime is actually pretty bad, featuring a cast of characters players would care about. These could be characters who fall into a life of crime because they have no choice, and who only want to leave it behind and escape the terrifying world it brings.
This, however, is rarely the case, and we don't always get to see these people escape for good with millions of dollars and zero consequences. Red Dead proved that there aren’t often happy ever afters with both games, so GTA should deliver the modern issues of crime and the realities it brings rather than the glorified heroism that’s prevalent across its titles.
It all comes down to how Rockstar leans into this theme. Will we get a game where the purpose, first and foremost, is to be another money-making machine that will fuel the developer’s profit margin for the next decade? Yes, probably. However, Red Dead Redemption 2 has made more than enough profit and praise for itself and told a meaningful story in the process, so why not lead with that?
GTA 6 Online can continue the tradition of bringing in the big bucks indefinitely, but Rockstar can afford to do something more with the single-player mode. The game can be fun, but we don't need to idolise the life these characters lead. After all, all we wanted was for Red Dead Redemption’s Arthur Morgan to walk away for his own good, but never gave nearly as much sentiment to Franklin, Michael, or Trevor.