Why GTA Online isn't going to die anytime soon

One thing gamers often look up is how GTA Online is dying or is about to die sometime soon. No current metric really supports the notion as of the San Andreas Mercenaries update. Profits were up for Take-Two Interactive in Q4 2023 (Rockstar Games' parent company), numbers on Steamcharts look good, and Rockstar has not announced any intention of closing the game off soon.

For 2023, there were datamines for a 10-year anniversary event and Halloween-related content. That means, at the very least, GTA Online isn't dying in the upcoming months of 2023. The game is too successful to randomly close out of thin air.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective.

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GTA Online is unlikely to die soon

Some gamers want this title to die, but that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon (Image via Rockstar Games)

Here is an excerpt from Rockstar Games design director Scott Butchard's interview with GamesRadar:

"It's super important to us that players find new ways to connect with each other - whether through events we create or by us providing the tools for them to create their own moments. We've got a bunch of ideas in the works right now, all the way up until the Holidays at the end of the year, so please stay tuned!"

That means Rockstar Games has plans for GTA Online content up through the seasonal holidays at the end of 2023.

Scott Butchard also mentioned how Rockstar Games would like to do more community events in Grand Theft Auto Online, which hasn't really happened since the interview took place.

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Halloween event plans

Some leaked content for the upcoming Halloween event (Image via Rockstar Games)

The above datamine shows several datamined concepts for the 2023 Halloween event. For example, the bottom right shows the ghost of Johnny Klebitz, who will be present in the spot where he died in Grand Theft Auto 5 for a Ghost Hunt activity where players snapshot ten different ghosts on various days.

Apart from a bunch of clothing that players will be able to acquire during the event, there is also a possessed animal Random Event where some spooky creature will try to attack the player. The 10-year anniversary event was also datamined to include some clothes from GTA 5's protagonists.

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GTA Online's success

Many games don't die when they're making as much of a profit as this one (Image via Rockstar Games)

Gamers should know by now that GTA Online has plenty of content lined up for the upcoming months (including some drip-feed vehicles).

While the future for 2024 onward is yet to be leaked, there is a good chance that the game will continue to get support until possibly Grand Theft Auto 6 Online could replace it.

Anybody who has read Take-Two Interactive's Earnings Call for the past few quarters should know that the company usually states how successful Grand Theft Auto Online is, as evident below in the Q4 2023 Earnings Call:

"The largest contributors to Net Bookings were NBA 2K23; Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto V."

If the game were on a downward trend, then the discussions about it dying would make sense. As it stands now, there isn't any reason to assume that GTA Online will die soon.