GTA 6 may be getting closer, but players hoping to jump straight into GTA 6 Online could be waiting much longer. A recent report suggests Rockstar Games may separate the two releases by a surprisingly large amount of time, with the online component potentially not arriving until 2028.
Rockstar Games has yet to officially reveal GTA 6 Online. While an online component is widely expected, the developer has remained unusually quiet about its multiplayer plans.
That silence is now creating speculation that GTA 6 Online may not launch alongside the main game — or even shortly afterward.
GTA 6 Online could potentially arrive in 2028
According to a recent report, GTA 6 Online could arrive one or even two years after GTA 6 itself.
The more extreme scenario would put its release somewhere around late 2028. However, it is important to stress that Rockstar has not announced a GTA 6 Online release date.
The suggested timeline is instead based on Rockstar’s current marketing, its previous release strategies and the complete lack of information surrounding GTA 6’s multiplayer component.
Therefore, players shouldn’t treat 2028 as a confirmed release window.
Still, the possibility of a significant delay is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
GTA 5 handled Online very differently
The situation becomes more interesting when compared with GTA 5.
GTA Online launched roughly two weeks after GTA 5 in 2013. More importantly, Rockstar openly discussed and promoted GTA Online before the base game arrived.
Players already knew that the multiplayer experience existed and had a reasonable idea of what Rockstar was planning.
GTA 6 is currently following a very different path.
Despite extensive attention surrounding the game, Rockstar has provided virtually nothing about its next GTA Online experience. Current marketing remains focused on the single-player game, its characters and the world players will explore.
That doesn’t confirm a delay. However, it certainly makes another two-week turnaround look less certain.
Rockstar may want GTA 6 to breathe first
There are several reasons why separating GTA 6 and GTA 6 Online could make sense.
GTA 6 is expected to be an enormous release by itself. Launching its online component simultaneously would potentially divide players between two huge experiences while also placing additional pressure on Rockstar’s servers and development teams.
A delayed multiplayer launch would allow Rockstar to focus entirely on the base game first.
It could also give players time to experience the campaign before another massive GTA experience begins competing for their attention.
However, a delay of one or two years would be considerably more aggressive than the strategy Rockstar used with GTA 5.
GTA Online has become far bigger than anyone expected
Rockstar also isn’t dealing with the same situation it faced in 2013.
The original GTA Online grew into one of the company’s most important products. Rockstar continued expanding it for more than a decade with businesses, vehicles, missions, properties, heists and major content updates.
Its success also created an enormous recurring revenue stream through systems such as Shark Cards.
That means the next GTA Online isn’t simply a multiplayer mode attached to GTA 6. It will likely be treated as a major platform designed to survive for years.
Rockstar may therefore be willing to spend considerably more time developing and preparing it.
What about microtransactions?
Rockstar has previously stated that GTA 6’s single-player experience will not contain microtransactions.
However, that does not necessarily apply to GTA 6 Online.
Given the enormous success of Shark Cards and GTA Online’s existing economy, some form of monetization in the next online experience would hardly be surprising.
Rockstar has not yet explained how GTA 6 Online will handle its economy, progression or optional purchases.
Until those details arrive, any claims about specific monetization systems remain speculation.
A delayed GTA 6 Online could actually be massive
Waiting another year or two for GTA 6 Online would undoubtedly disappoint players who primarily enjoy GTA for multiplayer.
However, there could also be a significant upside.
Rather than rushing an online mode out shortly after GTA 6, Rockstar could use the additional development time to build something considerably larger than GTA Online was at launch.
The current GTA Online has accumulated more than a decade of content. Its successor will inevitably face comparisons with that enormous amount of material from day one.
Rockstar has a difficult challenge ahead: convince millions of established GTA Online players to leave behind years of progress and start again.
A more ambitious launch could make that transition considerably easier.
For now, GTA 6 Online remains a mystery
The biggest takeaway is simple: nobody outside Rockstar currently knows when GTA 6 Online will arrive.
A 2028 release remains speculation rather than a confirmed plan. Nevertheless, Rockstar’s silence makes it increasingly difficult to assume that GTA 6 Online will follow the same launch strategy as GTA 5.
The lack of multiplayer marketing is especially noticeable considering how early GTA Online was revealed during GTA 5’s promotional campaign.
GTA 6 could therefore arrive as a primarily single-player experience first, with Rockstar saving its next enormous online platform for later.
Whether that means several months, one year or even two years remains to be seen.
For players expecting to jump directly from GTA 6’s campaign into GTA 6 Online, however, it might be worth preparing for a longer wait than expected.
