Why GTA 6’s Biggest Launch Day Fear is Actually a Non-Issue

Grand Theft Auto 6 fans worried about the servers going down when the game launches later this year really don’t have anything to fear. Unless its release date gets pushed back again, the highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 is scheduled to launch on November 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Chances are it will be one of the biggest (if not the biggest) video game launches of all time.

Over the years, big video game launches have often equated to server issues that render the games unplayable or at least unstable on launch day. GTA 6 is potentially going to draw a record number of players on day one, and so there may naturally be some worry that the game will have its own server issues on launch. However, future GTA 6 players don’t need to worry about that, because chances are, the online mode won’t even be available on launch day at all.

GTA 6 CEO is “Terrified” of Its Release

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has some concerns about GTA 6’s release, specifically fan expectations around the game.

GTA 6 Online Mode Likely Won’t Be Available at Launch

Starting with Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar has held back the online multiplayer portion of its games, adding them later on after players have had time to play through the single-player experience. GTA 5‘s critically-acclaimed single-player campaign launched on September 17, 2013, but the online mode didn’t come out until October 1, 2013. Red Dead Redemption 2‘s single-player launched on October 26, 2018, while Red Dead Online didn’t start rolling out until more than a month later, on November 27. If GTA 6 keeps the pattern going, fans shouldn’t expect to play its online mode until some time in December or maybe even early 2027.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

On one hand, a delayed release for the GTA 6 online mode will likely disappoint those that are primarily interested in the game for its multiplayer. On the other hand, it will allow the focus to stay squarely on GTA 6‘s characters and story for the first bit of its life, and prevent chaos from millions of people flooding the servers and rendering the whole game unplayable. Now, that being said, whenever the online mode does come out, it’s likely that there will be some connectivity issues, though hopefully not on the scale that we saw with GTA 5‘s online mode back in the day.

GTA Online had severe technical problems for its first two weeks of availability, rendering it virtually unplayable for many fans. This caused a great deal of frustration at the time, but on the bright side, Rockstar did give fans some compensation in the form of in-game currency. So even if GTA 6‘s online mode has a rocky launch, at least fans can count on Rockstar doing something to make it up to them.

What’s That Weapon?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

What’s That Weapon?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

As it stands, we don’t really know much about GTA 6‘s online multiplayer mode. Rockstar Games has only released two GTA 6 trailers since formally announcing the game back in 2022, and it’s unclear when it will release Trailer 3, let alone pull the curtain back on the online mode. It’s likely that GTA 6‘s online mode will follow in the footsteps of the previous game, though, so fans can expect a familiar brand of mayhem whenever the online mode is released to the public.