With Grand Theft Auto 6 reportedly on the horizon, Rockstar snatches up a large community team that could bring a different niche of players to GTA Online.
Rockstar Games has made an interesting acquisition in its purchase of Cfx.re. The team isn't a game developer, but a group responsible for FiveM and RedM, two of the biggest online roleplay communities within respectively Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2.
Players in both GTA Online and Red Dead Online have made characters within those online spaces and interact in the world like full-blown NPCs. Instead of playing against each other or participate in the game's missions, they use dedicated servers to act like citizens of Los Santos or the Wild West.
Roleplaying communities within popular online games like these (or Fallout 76 and No Man's Sky) have existed and thrived for years. Late last year, Rockstar basically gave the green light for GTA Online roleplay, as they can help bring in new players revenue.
Regarding the online communities for both GTA and Red Dead as a whole, Rockstar said they "found new ways to expand the possibilities of Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2."
The developer said it will help Cfx.re "find new ways to support this incredible community and improve the services they provide to their developers and players." It's also given its approval to mods created by roleplayers from the FiveM and RedM communities.
In its own statement, Cfx.re called the acquisition "a huge step forward in the growth of our community, and an opportunity for us to work with Rockstar Games to advance the FiveM platform and the creative community surrounding it."
Obviously, the most immediate game this acquisition relates to is Grand Theft Auto VI. That game may lack a solid release date, but it's a given that it will build upon the decade-old GTA Online for its multiplayer and social components.
Whether it releases alongside the story mode for GTA 6 or weeks later, the ongoing success of its predecessor gives a good idea of how GTA Online will live on when a wholly new entry has entered the picture.
Outside of this one game, it's also easy to see how this move could affect future non-GTA endeavors from Rockstar. The studio's releases are an event unto themselves, and garner communities who are drawn to each individual title for one reason or another.
Even if a future Rockstar game doesn't hit the same financial highs as GTA Online with its multiplayer, just having another ecosystem for a community to play around in puts eyes on the studio.
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