"Business decision": Ex-Rockstar employee cites reason for GTA 5's canceled single-player DLC

Modified Jul 04, 2024 19:07 GMT

Ex-Rockstar employee sheds light on cancelation of GTA 5 single-player DLCs (Image via Rockstar Games)

Rockstar Games' former Senior Camera Artist, Joe Rubino, stated in a recent interview that canceling GTA 5's single-player DLCs was a "business decision" that upset him. In fact, according to him, it was the success of the title's multiplayer mode, Grand Theft Auto Online, that resulted in these DLCs being shelved:

"When GTA Online came out, it was so much of a cash cow and people were loving it so much that it was hard to make an argument that a stand-alone DLC would out-compete that. I think looking back now, I would say that we could probably do both, you know, but that was a business decision that they made, and you know I was a little upset about that."

The game's source code leaked back in December 2023, revealing around eight planned Story Mode DLCs that never saw the light of day. Interestingly, the ex-Rockstar employee believes that a lot of that content eventually ended up in its Online Mode.

Former Rockstar Games Senior Camera Artist talks about canceled GTA 5 single-player DLCs

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Joe Rubino's stint at Rockstar Games lasted from May 2010 to January 2016. In this period, he worked on games like Grand Theft Auto 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Max Payne 3. In a recent interview on the YouTube channel SanInPlay, the ex-Senior Camera Artist revealed that he worked on a stand-alone DLC for GTA 5 that involved Steven Ogg, Trevor Philip's actor.

"We split our teams into two, I stayed on GTA Online and then this DLC which Steven Ogg was a very important part of, and then some of the team overlapped and went to RDR2 early on."

This might be the canceled Agent Trevor DLC that came to light after Grand Theft Auto 5's source code was leaked.

While these single-player DLCs unfortunately never came out, Joe Rubino believes that a lot of that content made it into later iterations of Grand Theft Auto Online.

"When that game got shelved, we spent so much money. A lot of that stuff though did end up making it, I believe, into like later iterations of GTA Online, I think. But, so like, its not like they wasted it."

Fans have often blamed Grand Theft Auto Online for the cancelation of Grand Theft Auto 5's single-player DLCs. The former has provided a lot of entertainment over the years, but many want to see more of Michael, Trevor, and Franklin.

Michael is yet to even appear in the multiplayer, unlike the other two protagonists. As such, fans are hoping for his inclusion in a DLC before GTA 5 eventually comes to an end.

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Edited by Abu Amjad Khan