Summary
- GTA 6’s Online mode will reportedly be available as a standalone purchase from day one.
- Red Dead Online and GTA Online can also be purchased separately nowadays, but their standalone versions launched years after RDR2 and GTA 5.
- GTA 6 single-player mode reportedly won’t be available as a standalone purchase.
The online component of Grand Theft Auto 6 will be purchasable separately at launch, according to a well-known leaker. This claim suggests that GTA 6 will mark a notable departure from how Rockstar typically handles its AAA game launches.
Rockstar has been radio-silent about its much-anticipated open-world action adventure ever since premiering the first GTA 6 trailer in December 2023. The game itself was announced with a 2025 release window, but no details have been given about its editions or pricing.
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Some information on this front has now been shared by Rockstar insider Tez2. The long-time leaker recently claimed that the GTA 6 online mode will be purchasable separately at launch. This is said to be an optional offering catering to consumers who are only interested in the game’s live-service component. Conversely, fans who are only interested in the single-player mode won’t be able to buy it separately from its online counterpart, Tez2 said.
GTA 6 Might Break Rockstar’s Long-Time Release Tradition
Both Red Dead Online and GTA Online are already sold separately nowadays. However, neither of these standalone live-service games launched alongside their single-player counterparts. Red Dead Online became available for purchase separately in December 2020, more than two years following Red Dead Redemption 2‘s release. Meanwhile, Rockstar has only been offering GTA Online as a standalone purchase since March 2022, approximately six months ahead of GTA 5‘s ninth anniversary. Launching GTA 6 Online separately from the base game on day one would thus mark a notable departure from how Rockstar handled its AAA releases in the past.
This purported move could be interpreted as yet another indicator of Rockstar’s ever-strengthening focus on live-service games. Despite pushing 12, GTA 5 is still selling incredibly well, not least because of its never-ending stream of content updates and a healthy player community, which make GTA Online as fun as it ever was. Offering GTA 6‘s online mode as a separate purchase from day one would be one way for Rockstar to boost the early momentum of the game’s live-service component, ensuring that it gets off to a strong start.
A standalone version of GTA 6 Online would naturally be more affordable than the complete package. But what that means in terms of concrete figures is currently unclear, especially since there has recently been a lot of speculation about GTA 6 potentially launching at an above-market price. The game itself is expected to have multiple editions, even without accounting for the rumored online-only release. For reference, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto 5 launched with three editions each.
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