Industry veteran Rich Vogel was actually supposed to talk about whether the MMO genre is dead for AAA developers in the West. Mid-interview he shifted to GTA 6 and stated that the title could actually become a showcase MMORPG.
What does GTA 6 have to do with an MMORPG? In an interview with Wccftech, the editorial team spoke with Rich Vogel. He has previously worked on titles such as Ultima Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and New World, thus he has some experience in the MMORPG field.
He believes that GTA 6 could become an MMORPG. When asked if there are still any interested parties in the West for a large MMORPG, Vogel replied:
Yes, I believe there is a large audience waiting for the right MMORPG to come to market. Just think of the millions of players who have played and continue to play WOW, SWTOR, ESO, UO, EverQuest, Fallout 76, and other games. The problem is that currently no publisher is willing to invest the money and take the risk. My instinct tells me that the next big MMORPG will likely come from Asia and/or Europe. If what I have heard about the features and gameplay of GTA 6 is true, it could evolve into an MMORPG, as many of the planned features are typically found in MMORPGs.
So he believes that GTA 6 could actually become an MMORPG. Unfortunately, the planned features he speaks of are not yet known to the public. Therefore, it’s hard to assess whether Vogel is hitting the mark with his opinion.
However, Vogel is probably referring less to the story-driven single-player mode, but rather to an online mode like in GTA 5.
GTA Online as a possible MMORPG
What is actually GTA Online? With GTA 5, GTA Online was also released. Here players create their own criminal, who must work his way up to become the boss of an underground syndicate. In a lobby, up to 30 players can play at the same time.
In addition to the multiplayer lobby, there are other features that would make it an MMORPG:
- The world continues to evolve. Buildings that were construction sites before can suddenly be accessed after updates.
- The character earns experience points and unlocks new weapons, clothing, and car modifications.
- The game has a functioning economic cycle with its GTA$. With this, bunkers or warehouses can be purchased, for example.
- Crews are the equivalent of guilds or clans. Furthermore, the heists serve as raids.
If several of the points are transferred to the online mode of GTA 6, it’s no wonder that the title could resemble an MMORPG. However, there are also differences to large MMORPGs, for example, a global economy is missing, and 30 players is relatively few simultaneous participants on a server.
GTA Online is still considered one of the best MMOs this year. In addition, there are other multiplayer games that players can check out. MeinMMO lists the best MMOs in 2025: The 10 currently best MMOs and MMORPGs 2025
