Highlights

  • According to a former Rockstar developer, the planned GTA 5 story DLCs were canceled because of GTA Online's profitability.
  • The Agent Trevor DLC was about midway through development when it was scrapped.
  • Several elements of the scrapped single-player expansions were allegedly repurposed for GTA Online's content updates.

A former Rockstar Games developer has claimed that the planned Grand Theft Auto 5 story DLCs were canceled due to Grand Theft Auto Online's immense profitability. Datamined information from 2023 revealed multiple single-player expansions that were planned for Grand Theft Auto 5, but unfortunately never came to fruition.

Tons of GTA 5 fans were looking forward to story expansions after the game's launch in 2013, but according to a 2017 statement from Rockstar, the development of Red Dead Redemption 2 and supporting GTA Online with regular content updates left barely any resources for the studio to work on GTA 5's single-player DLCs. While the 2023 leaks pointed to eight scrapped story DLCs for GTA 5 in total, three of them were of particular interest to fans, namely Agent Trevor, Prologue, and LibertyV.

Red Dead Redemption 2 no GTA 5 story DLC
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Red Dead Redemption 2 to Blame for Lack of GTA 5 Story DLC

Rockstar Games reveals why Grand Theft Auto 5 story DLC has never been released, pointing to the development of Red Dead Redemption 2 as a key factor.

Leaks surrounding the Trevor-focused expansion have been numerous, with one fan recently discovering an unreleased soundtrack from the canceled GTA 5 DLC. Now, former Rockstar senior camera artist and virtual cinematographer, Joseph Rubino, has provided additional context behind the cancelations. In an interview with YouTuber SanInPlay, Rubino stated that he worked on Agent Trevor before it was scrapped. When asked about the decision, Rubino claimed that GTA Online was too much of a "cash cow," and that it was "hard to make an argument that a standalone DLC would out-compete that."

GTA 5's Agent Trevor DLC Was Canceled Because GTA Online Was a "Cash Cow"

The Agent Trevor DLC was about midway through development and canceling it was allegedly a "business decision," which lines up with Rockstar's explanation regarding Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA Onlinetaking up too many resources. Rubino's statements also lend further credence to this, as he claimed to have split his team into two, with one half working on GTA Online and the other on Agent Trevor. Eventually, some of his team "overlapped" and progressed to developing Red Dead Redemption 2. Rubino also lamented the cancelation of the Agent Trevor DLC for GTA 5, asserting that it was "awesome."

The concept of a violent, unstable character like Trevor carrying out covert operations for a corrupt sect of the government sounds amazing to many fans of the game, making it all the more disappointing that the Agent Trevor story DLC will likely never see the light of day. However, many elements of the scrapped single-player expansions were apparently repurposed for GTA Online's content updates, with Agent Trevor turning into Doomsday Heist. As Rockstar quietly toils away preparing GTA 6 for its fall 2025 release, one can only hope the studio plans to supplement its single-player mode with additional content in the future.