5 reasons to be concerned about microtransactions in GTA 6

While there is a lot of excitement around the release of GTA 6, a section of fans are also concerned about some things. Among their biggest concerns is microtransactions, which were introduced to the series with Shark Cards in Grand Theft Auto Online. The GTA + (or Plus) subscription service was also introduced in the title fairly recently, which, again, has become a cause of concern for some.

While Rockstar Games is yet to officially announce a multiplayer mode for its upcoming release, it is very unlikely that it won't have one. With that said, let's take a look at five reasons to be concerned about microtransactions in GTA 6.

Note - This article is subjective and only reflects the writer's opinions.

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Microtransactions in GTA 6: 5 possible reasons to be concerned

1) Shark Cards have been profitable for Rockstar

Shark Cards can be bought with real money at any time to get in-game cash. There are different tiers of Shark Cards, each rewarding the player with a relative amount of cash. This is basically a pay-to-win system that is unfair to those who grind the game for hours to get rich.

This is also why a big section of the Grand Theft Auto community is against Shark Cards. However, this system has been very profitable for Rockstar Games, which is why it might be in Grand Theft Auto 6 as well.

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2) GTA + is expanding

Plus started out as a subscription service for Grand Theft Auto Online on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, charging a monthly fee and offering rotational as well as fixed in-game benefits. This again, like Shark Cards, isn't very popular among fans but seems to have been doing well as Rockstar recently increased its monthly fee.

Additionally, Plus now offers some classic Rockstar Games titles for free to subscribers, which shows that the service is expanding and might not go away anytime soon.

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3) GTA + exclusive gameplay features

GTA+ : Rockstar's new cash cow and it's impact on GTA 6 byu/Ubermacht_Cypher-27 inGTA6

June 2024's Bottom Dollar Bounties update introduced new gameplay features in Grand Theft Auto Online. Among these are some features that are exclusively available to Plus Subscribers, like the ability to collect revenue from owned businesses remotely.

This has led to speculations about Rockstar possibly restricting certain GTA 6 features behind a Plus paywall. Although there is no confirmation regarding such a system as of yet, its implementation doesn't seem impossible given how things have been in Grand Theft Auto Online of late.

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4) There might not be a new Rockstar Games title for a long time

The next Grand Theft Auto is set for a Fall 2025 release (Image via Rockstar Games)

Once Grand Theft Auto 6 releases in 2025, it could be a long time before we see a brand new Rockstar Games title, be it another Grand Theft Auto, a Red Dead Redemption installment, or anything else.

Based on what the GTA 6 price would be, the upcoming title's sales alone could be very profitable for the studio. But it might look to make even more through microtransactions, especially if Grand Theft Auto 6's potential DLCs are made free of cost, just like Grand Theft Auto Online DLCs.

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5) Microtransactions are becoming a norm in the industry

Example of Shark Card tiers in Grand Theft Auto Online (Images via Rockstar Games)

Microtransactions are not only a concern related to Grand Theft Auto 6 or Rockstar Games. This has, unfortunately, become somewhat of a norm in the gaming industry, and is a part of almost every other video game in some capacity nowadays.

With how Shark Cards and Plus seem to be performing financially, it seems very unlikely that Rockstar wouldn't want to capitalize by bringing them to what is arguably the biggest video game of all time.

That being said, we will have to wait a bit more to learn more about the role of microtransactions and other things related to the sequel, such as who the GTA 6 characters will be.

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