GTA Online 2.0 is perhaps just as anticipated as Grand Theft Auto 6, and there are many things that could happen to make it better than ever before.
Summary
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GTA 6 is set for release in 2025, promising a map bigger than ever before.
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GTA Online 2.0 may feature higher server caps to accommodate larger player lobbies.
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Crossplay should be expected in GTA Online 2.0 , integrating players across platforms for enhanced online functionality.
The wait for Grand Theft Auto: 6 seems to be an unending one, given that GTA 5 came out eleven years (or two console generations) ago. Still, the wait may finally be over sometime in 2025, when the much-anticipated title is set to release, with Rockstar promising a game bigger than any it has ever done before. Until then, GTA Online has enjoyed continued updates, keeping players tied over until 2025, yet that too is expected to receive a sequel.
It is expected that GTA Online 2.0 will follow its predecessor’s formula, using the map of GTA 6, similar to how GTA Online uses GTA 5‘s map. Despite its wild and continued popularity, many hope that Grand Theft Auto Online will improve in its second iteration, especially because of the new features and mechanics of the game that will be its scaffolding. There are many features Rockstar can implement and expand upon, and with its greater experience with online games, perhaps GTA Online 2.0 will be even bigger than its predecessor.
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10 Higher Server Caps
A Bigger Map Means More Room
Rockstar has promised a map that will dwarf GTA 5’s Los Santos in its latest project. Should it keep the level of detail of its predecessor, then GTA 6’s Vice City and beyond could be one of gaming’s biggest. That would mean there would be plenty of room for even larger servers, provided superior server infrastructure is implemented. Although chaos cannot be avoided, the larger map size would mean that more players could roam around without feeling too cramped.
GTA 5 currently has a server cap of thirty-two, with two of those players acting as spectators. This was even smaller for last-generation consoles (Xbox 360 and PS3), being capped at sixteen. If the jump in console generation is as large a leap as it was previously, perhaps we can expect the server sizes to be roughly doubled again, with GTA Online 2.0 providing 60-player lobbies.
There is a mod that increases server capacity beyond thirty-two. It is called FiveM and is often used for roleplay servers, which are known to hold a thousand players at a time.
9 Introducing Crossplay
It Is Something That’s Expected Now
Despite how popular GTA Online still remains, crossplay isn’t supported. With almost every multiplayer title released now, crossplay is almost expected, especially given how the talk surrounding the console wars has seemed to die down. Since such a large population of gamers are on PCs, it makes sense to integrate this with Xbox and Playstation players to get the most out of online functionality.
Should crossplay come to GTA Online through its successor (and it really should), implementing it should be easier than when GTA Online originally came out. Still, many modern games struggle with crossplay, with notable titles like Baldur’s Gate 3 yet to include it. Those that have done so have not always found success, with Helldivers 2 notably struggling with crossplay despite being a title made by a PlayStation studio.
8 Story Characters Featured Online
Why Can’t Lucia Be An NPC?
Until relatively recently, very few major story characters have made their way into the online side of the game. Franklin was added during “The Contract” years after the game’s initial release, despite being a main character in GTA 5’s story. This is odd, as it isn’t as though the characters of Grand Theft Auto aren’t popular and iconic. They may not be as popular as Lara Croft or Mario, but seeing them in the online mode from the get-go would be a fun encounter.
GTA Online can sometimes feel like a completely separate entity from the single-player version. This is partly due to the chaos it allows for, making the overall tone feel far more slapstick than the story (though that too can veer into absurdity), but it is also because there isn’t much integration for characters coming from the single-player mode. These characters wouldn’t even need a major role to alleviate this. Have one of two be mission givers, and suddenly, everything feels like it belongs in one collective world.
7 Larger Heists At Launch
Heists made quite a splash when they were released in 2015. These missions were bigger than anything GTA Online had beforehand, requiring greater coordination between players for a huge payday. They also gave gamers a narrative to work with in the online mode, giving them a sense of progression as they went from heist to heist in order to earn even larger quantities of money.
Now that Rockstar knows how great heists are, there is no reason not to add them to Grand Theft Auto Online 2.0. With a larger map, there could be a greater number of locations to perform these missions, and since the heists got grander in scale as time has gone by, GTA Online 2.0 could push them even further. These missions are a highlight of the GTA Online experience and, if expanded upon, could continue to be so.
6 Characters From Previous GTAs
Looking Higher Poly Than Ever Before
Grand Theft Auto as a series, has produced many popular characters. From San Andreas’ CJ to GTA 4’s Niko Bellic, there is a deep pool of characters to pull from. It would be nice to see some of these characters redone for the next generation, given how it is possible to count the number of polygons used to make up CJ and Big Smoke. Plus, it would give Rockstar a reason to add a bit of nostalgia to the title.
GTA doesn’t need to do much to justify some of these characters turning up in Vice City, especially because a previous title has already been set there. For some characters, a lot of time has passed, and motivations change, meaning that their appearances can easily be explained away. Even adding in Easter Eggs to acknowledge these characters, like another character in a drive-through recounting Big Smoke’s famous order, could be enough to please fans.
GTA 6’s Vice City is based on Miami and Miami Beach. Throughout GTA 6’s trailer, there were many references to Florida.
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5 Expanded Live Events
Let’s Have A Christmas Heist
GTA Online already does quite well with live events, adding some based on holidays, but if GTA 6 is going to be bigger and better, doing the same with these events is not a bad idea. Collecting pumpkins at Halloween and hunting yetis is all well and good, but what about a proper Christmas heist? Breaking into Santa’s workshop to steal items only available during the festive season could be great fun, and give players a reason to return to Grand Theft Auto every so often.
At launch, GTA Online didn’t have seasonal events, with them being added in 2015 with the heist update. Now that Rockstar has a solid grasp on what content their players want in the online mode, expanding on seasonal events to make greater changes to the world could add a lot to the experience of the game. Being a launch feature will also show that Rockstar acknowledges the progress it made during GTA Online’s run and that they are willing to carry it forward.
4 Better Anti Cheat For PC
Hackers Do Love Hacking
Anti-cheat is something that has received greater attention in recent years. Although not as prevalent on consoles, hacking, and cheating are known to be a source of frustration for PC players. Rockstar has been able to do very little about this, but it should be noted that many other titles are known to suffer at the hands of cheaters.
Good anti-cheat is not easy to implement. Sometimes, it can get in the way of online stability, and innocent players can be caught up in ban waves. Eventually, players will be able to get around whatever anti-cheat Rockstar put in, but if it’s there, it will at least deter the majority of players from attempting to do so. Cutting down on cheating is important for an enjoyable and sustainable online experience.
3 Superior Mobile Phone
Social Media In GTA?
Mobile phones can do far more than they used to, and this should be reflected in GTA Online 2.0. They were largely used for starting missions, communicating, and being a Sat NAV, but with social media being more prevalent than ever in the GTA 6 trailer, perhaps this could be a fun feature in the online mode. Perhaps players could share photos and posts through their in-game phone across their server or to their friends.
Other than social media, perhaps the phones could even contain games from other Rockstar titles, similar to what Naughty Dog did in Uncharted 4 with Crash Bandicoot. It could even be used for online poker since the casino and its mini-games were frequently used in GTA Online. In general, making the smartphones feel more like actual smartphones would add greatly to GTA’s immersion.
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2 Dedicated Servers
Oddly enough, GTA Online does not have dedicated servers. This may be due to Rockstar favoring a peer-to-peer system for online connectivity, but that does mean that players cannot host servers of their own, at least without third-party support. What that means is that a player cannot host a server for them and their friends alone and must join a pre-existing one hosted by Rockstar.
Of course, there are ways around this, like making a session private or making it so that only friends and crew members can join, but that does not allow some players to host servers for specific purposes. GTA roleplay is incredibly popular, but it requires third party software to play. If Rockstar were to allow for dedicated servers, it would help one of the most dedicated parts of their fanbase endure into the next iteration of GTA Online.
Currently, hosting a server through third-party software can cost the user money, and, for the uninitiated, this process can be a tedious and confusing one, but there are many guides because of its popularity.
1 GTA The MMO
Bigger Than Ever Before
Although MMOs aren’t quite as prevalent in the public consciousness as in the prime days of World of Warcraft, they are still very popular. With larger servers and its mission structure, GTA Online 2.0 could lend itself quite well to an MMO. Restrictions would need to be put in place to prevent utter chaos from consuming most servers, but tweaking it could be an idea worth following for Rockstar.
If the world is as large as Rockstar claims it will be, then it could host a smaller-scale MMO. Perhaps it won’t be able to support millions of players on a single server, but it wouldn’t need to if regions were more specific and plentiful to improve connectivity. GTA Online does feature a leveling system as well as a way to improve stats, which are both staples of many MMORPG titles, so a transition could be on the cards.
