Grand Theft Auto VI and Grand Theft Auto Online will be sold separately at launch, with a potential upgrade for the full game available for those who only purchase the online component of the next entry in the Rockstar series, according to rumors circulating online.
On the GTA Forums, known Rockstar leaker Tez2 said that the release of the sixth main entry in the series will coincide with the first time the full package and the online component will be sold separately at launch. According to the leaker, Rockstar Games will have to factor the price of the online component into the total cost of the game, but could benefit from pricing the online standalone lower to provide access to players who cannot afford the full price, who could, eventually, upgrade to the full game including the main story campaign. At the same time, if the online component is priced low, it could help Rockstar Games keep the price of the full experience low, which is something many in the industry wouldn’t want to see, as there are expectations that a potential $80 price tag for Grand Theft Auto VI could normalize video game pricing, which hasn’t increased much in the past few years despite rising costs.
The rumors of Grand Theft Auto Online possibly being sold separately from the full Grand Theft Auto VI package isn’t the only news related to the highly-anticipated game that’s come in the past few hours. As reported by GamesRadar, former Rockstar Games animator, Mike York commented on what console players should expect in terms of performance, saying that the developer is likely going to go for a steady 30 FPS, optimizing the game as much as possible to make sure it will never dip below the target. On PlayStation 5 Pro, using the PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution upscaler, the game could hit 60 FPS, according to the former Rockstar developer, but 60 FPS shouldn’t be expected on base hardware at launch. From their experience, the former animator is sure Rockstar is going to squeeze as much performance from consoles as possible to make the game run at 30 FPS, and then later optimize for 60 FPS, as the higher framerate is not as important as making the game amazing at 30.
Grand Theft Auto VI launches on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S later this year. A precise release date has yet to be confirmed.
