Rockstar Games has remained extremely quiet about the online side of Grand Theft Auto 6, but an unexpected source may have revealed one of its first multiplayer details.
Court documents involving Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive reportedly reference an “online 32-player format” connected to a highly confidential project. While the documents do not amount to an official GTA 6 Online announcement, they could provide an early indication of how Rockstar is approaching multiplayer.
GTA 6 Online could feature 32-player sessions
The detail emerged from court filings surrounding Rockstar’s decision to terminate 34 developers. Rockstar alleges that employees shared confidential development information through a Discord server operated by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain.
The union disputes Rockstar’s explanation and has accused the company of union-busting.
Among the information discussed in the case is an apparent reference to developers working in “Room C” who talked about an online 32-player format.
Rockstar reportedly considers the information extremely sensitive, describing the material involved in the discussions as among its most closely guarded secrets.
Studio director Jennifer Kolbe also described the alleged sharing of such information as extraordinarily alarming, particularly considering Rockstar’s history with major leaks.
What could 32 players actually mean?
The obvious interpretation is that GTA 6 Online could support sessions containing up to 32 players.
Interestingly, that would put the new game relatively close to GTA Online. GTA V’s online component generally supports sessions with up to 30 active players alongside two spectator slots, creating a total lobby capacity of 32.
If GTA 6 Online follows a similar structure, Rockstar may be sticking with roughly the same number of players rather than dramatically increasing lobby sizes.
However, the court filing does not confirm exactly what the 32-player format represents.
It could refer to a specific multiplayer mode, an internal testing environment, a technical limitation during development, or an earlier version of Rockstar’s multiplayer plans. Development specifications can change considerably before release.
That makes it important not to treat 32 players as GTA 6 Online’s confirmed final player count.
What about the rumored 64-player GTA 6 lobbies?
Previous rumors have suggested Rockstar could increase GTA 6 Online sessions to as many as 64 players.
Those claims have circulated for some time, particularly alongside speculation about the scale of GTA 6’s world and Rockstar’s plans for its next generation of GTA Online.
The difference is that the 32-player reference has now reportedly appeared within actual court proceedings, giving it considerably more weight than an unsupported social media rumor.
That still doesn’t make it confirmation.
Rockstar could be experimenting with multiple lobby sizes, and different activities could support different numbers of players. A standard free-roam session, competitive mode, race, mission, or special event does not necessarily need to share the same player limit.
Rockstar clearly considers GTA 6 Online details highly sensitive
Perhaps the most interesting part of the filing isn’t even the number itself.
Rockstar’s reaction shows just how carefully the company is protecting information surrounding its upcoming multiplayer plans.
That isn’t particularly surprising after the enormous GTA 6 leak in 2022, which exposed unfinished gameplay footage and internal development material years before Rockstar was ready to publicly reveal the game.
Since then, information surrounding GTA 6 has remained under intense scrutiny.
A seemingly small detail such as the number of players supported by an online format might therefore reveal more about Rockstar’s internal multiplayer development than the company currently wants the public to know.
GTA 6 Online remains largely a mystery
Despite GTA Online becoming one of the biggest components of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, Rockstar has revealed remarkably little about what comes next.
A successor is widely expected to play an enormous role in GTA 6’s long-term future, but details surrounding its structure, progression, economy, activities, servers, and player counts remain largely unknown.
For now, the court filing gives us one unusually concrete piece of information: a 32-player online format has apparently been discussed during development.
Whether that becomes the standard GTA 6 Online lobby size remains another question entirely.
Until Rockstar officially reveals its multiplayer plans, the 32-player figure should be treated as a potentially important development detail rather than a confirmed final specification.
