Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to be the biggest video game launch of the year. Likely the biggest game launch in decades. And Twitch CEO Dan Clancy says other publishers and developers are right to get out of its way, as he believes the game will grab the attention of gamers until January at least. He also anticipates, after talking to Rockstar, that GTA 6′s online mode will be arriving sometime next year, giving the game another big boost.
In a new interview with Bloomberg, Clancy explained that he expects GTA 6, which launches in November on PS5 and Xbox, to be a massive hit on Twitch as players and creators hop on to stream the highly anticipated open-world game to fans and viewers around the world. Clancy also thinks GTA 6 will bring people back to Twitch who haven’t logged on in a long time. And apparently, he and other Twitch higher-ups have been chatting with Rockstar about GTA 6′s launch.
“We spent a lot of time talking with Rockstar about their plans, and also helping them think about how they can engage our creators,” Clancy said in an interview. “You are going to see this big bump with GTA 6, but then an even bigger one next year when they launch multiplayer.”
That last bit is intriguing. Bloomberg characterizes Clancy’s claim that GTA 6′s multiplayer is arriving next year as something he simply anticipates, but the way he casually and confidently says it in that quote above caught my eye. It seems very likely GTA 6’s online mode arrives next year, but as of yet Rockstar hasn’t confirmed that to be the case. GTA 6 is launching as a single-player-only game on November 19.
Kotaku has contacted Rockstar Games about Clancy’s quote and GTA 6‘s multiplayer plans.
All we really know is that GTA 6′s online mode will likely support 32 players, based on information mentioned in past court docs related to Rockstar’s firing of employees, which some have claimed was a form of union busting. Rockstar says the devs were fired for revealing secrets about the game, such as the player count of its multiplayer mode.
Regardless of whether multiplayer arrives next year or not, Clancy expects a big boost in overall Twitch viewership.
“It absolutely will spike the overall viewership meaningfully,” Clancy said. “How much I have no idea.”