Take-Two Boss Says It's 'Shown a Willingness to Support Legacy Titles' Amid Questions About the Future of GTA Online Post-GTA 6

The impending release of Grand Theft Auto 6 has left many GTA Online players wondering about the future of their beloved live service. With GTA 6's fall 2025 release date approaching, the question of whether their investment in the current GTA Online will be rendered obsolete remains unanswered.

GTA Online, a remarkably successful and profitable venture for Rockstar, has captivated players for over a decade. Its enduring popularity, and its lucrative nature, is believed to have influenced Rockstar's decision to prioritize it over story DLC for Grand Theft Auto 5, a choice that frustrated some fans. However, a more pressing concern is now on the horizon.

The expectation is that GTA 6 will introduce a new and improved version of GTA Online, potentially titled GTA Online 2 or retaining the original name. This has sparked worry among current players that their considerable time, effort, and money invested in the existing GTA Online will be wasted with a potential clean break.

This raises a significant question: why invest in GTA Online now, in early 2025, when a new iteration is possibly only eight months away? This very question was posed to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick in a recent interview, and his response offers intriguing insight.

While Zelnick avoided specifics regarding a new GTA Online due to its unannounced status, he did offer a relevant analogy using Take-Two's experience with NBA 2K Online. This free-to-play title, aimed at the Asian market, launched in 2012, followed by NBA 2K Online 2 in 2017. Importantly, both versions were maintained concurrently.

"I'm going to speak theoretically only because I'm not going to talk about a particular project when an announcement hasn't been made," Zelnick stated. "But generally speaking, we support our properties when the consumers are involved with those titles. As an example, we launched NBA 2K Online in China, I think originally in 2012 if I'm not mistaken. And then we launched NBA 2K Online 2 in China in 2017. If I'm not mistaken. We did not sunset Online 1. They both are still in the market and they serve consumers and they're alive and we have this massive audience. So we've shown a willingness to support legacy titles when a community wants to be engaged with them."

This last point is crucial. It strongly suggests, though doesn't confirm, that a potential GTA Online 2 wouldn't replace the original. Zelnick implies that continued player engagement with the current GTA Online would warrant continued support from Rockstar.

It's important to remember that much about GTA 6 remains unknown, with only a trailer and a release window currently revealed. However, with a fall 2025 release date potentially following Borderlands 4's September launch, Rockstar will likely need to unveil more information soon.