Part of Grand Theft Auto 5’s continued relevance so long after its initial 2013 release is due to the popularity of online roleplaying - something Rockstar would be smart to capitalize on for Grand Theft Auto 6. So far, Grand Theft Auto roleplaying is a community-driven effort, powered by fan-made mods and servers. GTA 6 should both introduce its own roleplay systems by default and increase the community’s capabilities to make these kinds of mods.
Grand Theft Auto roleplaying rose to prominence in early 2019, when several big-name streamers on Twitch played GTA V with roleplaying in mind. Streamers like Lirik and Summit1g joined popular RP server NoPixel, where players play out the everyday lives of made-up personas, acting in-character as criminals, doctors, salesmen, and other modern-day roles. The streamers’ RP escapades shot GTA 5 to the number one rank on Twitch at times, even beating out Fortnite and Apex Legends. These fan-created GTA RP servers are enabled by mods like FiveM, RageMP, and NoPixelRP.
By default, however, Grand Theft Auto 5 does little to help players create servers like this. Without installing GTA multiplayer mods, Grand Theft Auto 5 servers are restricted to just 32 players, and there are no in-game tools for taking on non-criminal roles or setting up complex server rules. That means official servers are rather limited in scope, and less mod-savvy players (and players who own the game on console) can’t take full advantage of this interesting, fan-driven mode within Grand Theft Auto Online.
With Grand Theft Auto 6 rumors circulating - and GTA 6 development seemingly confirmed by a Rockstar tax report - it’s possible the series’ developer is working on the next iteration of Grand Theft Auto’s online component. In order to capitalize on the series’ roleplaying community, Grand Theft Auto 6 should include in-game systems that enable players to more easily establish roleplay groups. This could include the ability to set roleplay-appropriate server rules, like permadeath and more serious consequences for crimes, as well the ability to participate in real-world jobs like delivery person and police officer - similar to Red Dead Online’s specialist roles.
But what Grand Theft Auto 6 really needs to grow a healthy roleplaying community is to embrace the player creativity that brought GTA 5’s roleplaying to prominence. Grand Theft Auto 6 needs streamlined community creation tools, allowing players to make their own content in-game as an alternative to traditional traditional, file-manipulating mods. Players should be allowed to craft NPCs, missions, jobs, and more and to download these creations from other players. To go along with this, GTA 6 should have a Skyrim-like mod installation system, where players can easily install favorite community mods to both PC and console. All of this would improve the Grand Theft Auto 6 roleplaying experience greatly.
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