Grand Theft Auto 6 Should Keep The Ball Rolling With One GTA Online Feature

Grand Theft Auto 6

By Fatemah Athar

Published Jun 14, 2024

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Grand Theft Auto 6

Image via Rockstar

Highlights

GTA 6 fans are eagerly awaiting the next installment, hoping for even more innovation in gameplay mechanics and open-world experiences.
GTA Online's focus on business management should continue on in GTA 5, as ideally, all the existing features would be present on launch day.
The potential for more advanced features in GTA 6, like a dynamic market system and financial tools, could further enhance the game's business management aspect.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is Rockstar’s upcoming installment in the tentpole GTA franchise, and fans are as excited as ever to find out where the series goes next. Known for its continuous innovation, the GTA franchise has consistently expanded its gameplay mechanics and open-world game experience with each new installment. GTA San Andreas, for instance, offered a bigger map and more vehicles than GTA 3 or Vice City had, while GTA 5 took GTA 4's gameplay loop a step further and perfected the driving mechanics, among other things. If this pattern holds true for the next installment, GTA 6 has a lot of inspiration to take from its predecessors in terms of improvements.

In the meantime, Rockstar has consistently rolled out updates and support for GTA Online. The online game mode has millions of players and offers countless activities, ranging from racing and deathmatches to roleplay and everything in between. Given the success of GTA Online, it seems inevitable that an online component will be attached to Grand Theft Auto 6. However, one crucial feature that should be carried over and expanded from Grand Theft Auto 5's iteration of GTA Online is business management.

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The Evolution of Business Management in GTA Online

Businesses have slowly become a core component in GTA Online. There are countless activities available to the player, including stealing and exporting cars, selling drugs, and sourcing crates to sell to black market dealers. These businesses in GTA Online all come with their own unique missions, and seeing players trying to earn money in the overworld goes a long way in making Los Santos feel like a living, breathing space. Being able to manage these businesses, in particular, has become a central feature in GTA Online, as it transforms the way players interact with the game. Players can purchase and run various businesses, from nightclubs to drug operations, which generate passive income and require strategic oversight.

Effective management for such businesses involves sourcing supplies, managing staff, and defending assets from rival players. These elements make the business experience immersive and rewarding, and GTA 6's release has the potential to enhance these mechanics further. This inclusion has become so important that it's possible if GTA 6 does not incorporate this from the get-go, the game may run into the risk of leaving players feeling underwhelmed since many returning players will be expecting businesses to be on par with GTA Online.

Here's an overview of the current business management dynamics in GTA Online:

Business Management Dynamics	Description
Purchase and Setup	Players can purchase various types of businesses such as nightclubs, motorcycle clubs, CEO offices, and bunkers with an initial investment for a setup.
Supply Management	Businesses require supplies to operate. Players must complete missions to source supplies or purchase them directly.
Production and Manufacturing	Once supplied, businesses produce goods or services over time. Examples include manufacturing drugs, weapons, or counterfeit money.
Sales Missions	Players must sell their produced goods through missions. Successful sales generate revenue, which varies based on the risk and difficulty of the mission.
Passive Income	Some businesses generate passive income without requiring active player intervention. Nightclubs are an example where popularity and management affect income levels.
Staff Hiring and Management	Businesses require staff to operate. Players can hire and assign staff to different roles, such as technicians in nightclubs or security in warehouses.
Security and Defense	Players must defend their businesses from NPC and player attacks. Enhancements like security upgrades can be purchased to protect assets.
Upgrades and Customization	Businesses can be upgraded to improve efficiency and security. Customization options allow players to personalize their business premises.
Financial Management	Players must manage the finances of their businesses, balancing income from sales with expenses for supplies and upgrades.
Risk and Reward	High-risk businesses like drug manufacturing offer high returns but are more vulnerable to attacks.
Market Dynamics	Some businesses are influenced by in-game events and player actions, affecting the supply and demand of goods.
Property Management	Players can own multiple properties and businesses, requiring them to manage a portfolio of assets.

Business Management Could Better The Story Mode As Well

Managing a business, for starters, is more than just owning it. It involves making strategic decisions to maximize profitability, and gamers must decide which businesses to invest in to balance their risk and reward. Running a nightclub in GTA Online, for instance, requires promoting it to increase popularity, while managing a bunker involves regular resupply missions to keep production going. Introducing more nuanced decision-making processes in GTA 6 could make business management even more engaging. This could include optimizing supply chains, negotiating with suppliers, and setting prices for goods and services.

GTA 6 could benefit from including many of these options right off the bat, not just for its potential online component but also for its story mode. Plus, integrating business management into the story mode could help develop unique narratives. The players could interact with the businesses themselves, influencing the storyline based on the player’s business success or failures to create a deeper, more immersive experience where strategic business decisions impact not only the player's wealth, but also GTA 6's story progression.

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Business Management Features GTA 6 Could Expand On

Grand Theft Auto 6 can benefit not only from keeping the comprehensive business management dynamics already available to player, but also by implementing a plan to expand and enhance these features over time. For example, GTA's luxury car export businesses should ideally have more unique vehicles, or even scripted missions to shake things up moving forward. There are also a few ideas that GTA Online never incorporated that deserve to make their first appearance in GTA 6. For example, players could merge businesses to work together, launder money for each other, or even initiate hostile takeovers. Apart from these intricacies, GTA 6 has the potential to introduce advanced business management features that go beyond what is currently available in GTA Online. This includes but isn't limited to:

Implementing a dynamic market system where supply and demand fluctuate based on player actions and in-game events. This would require GTA Online players to adapt their strategies and make real-time decisions to maximize profits.
Introducing an in-house system for staff development where players can train their employees to improve efficiency and productivity. This is a feature that is currently achieved by the community manually through voice chat, but if included officially, it could involve managing staff morale and loyalty, and that would add another layer of depth and realism to business management.
Providing players with sophisticated financial tools such as the ability to take out loans, invest in the stock market or cryptocurrency, and diversify income streams. This would enhance the financial planning aspect of business management and allow for more strategic investment decisions.
Enhancing security measures to protect businesses from rival players and NPC threats. This could include hiring specialized security firms, setting up surveillance systems, and conducting risk assessments to identify potential threats.

GTA 6 has the potential to continue building on the impressive roster of features seen in GTA Online, which include not just business management dynamics, but also the latter's vast array of advanced vehicles and weaponry. These ranged from futuristic vehicles like the Oppressor Mk2 and powerful weapons such as the Heavy Sniper Mk2, most of which have a massive impact on how players operate within the game and maintain the sense of power and immersion that, by extension, shapes their business dealings as well. With the lengthy development time and substantial budget for the game rumored to be around $2 billion, Rockstar has hopefully been crafting a game that is not only bigger and more explosive than its predecessor, but also richer in business management features.