Will GTA 6 have UGC?

Rockstar is no stranger to adding user-generated content (UGC) in their games. The incredibly successful GTA Online has implemented UGC to great effect in the form of player-made races, deathruns, and so on.

With the rising popularity of Roblox and Fortnite, developers have noticed that user-generated materials are what make players stick and stay. Each day, a new game or cosmetic is available for other users to acquire and enjoy. So why wouldn’t Rockstar implement this approach?

According to Gerard ‘HipHopGamer’ Williams, who claims he got to “party with Rockstar”, “GTA 6 will produce millionaires. We’re living in a time where UGC is a major thing”. While his credibility is debatable at best, his words do speak true of where the industry is headed. Giving players the ability to experience GTA as not just a game, but more of an “engine” seems to be the future.

We got a glimpse of what GTA 6 UGC could possibly look like with the PC release of GTA 5 and its player-made Roleplay (RP) servers. RP servers began around 2015-2016, with players being able to create unique personas and live in expansive worlds with other players, doing regular jobs, going to the police station when crimes happen, and interacting with others via voice chat.

While this might seem counter-intuitive to GTA (grand THEFT auto), the RP player base enjoyed the mundane and casual aspects of the sandbox game. This aspect could be expanded on with GTA 6 UGC, with easier ways for players to add custom animations, cosmetics, and functionalities.

Roblox and Fortnite are the main competitors that implement UGC, even though they are vastly different in their creative freedom. Roblox allows its players to completely change every aspect of the user experience (character models, animations, controls, gamemodes, sounds, etc.), while Fortnite is a little less lenient, not letting players change the playable camera angle, character animations, etc.

Fortnite has shown that it is possible to balance the experience for fans of Battle Royale (BR), single-player gamers with Fortnite Save the World, and UGC creators with the Creator Portal. On the other hand, Roblox’s approach to UGC has taken the market by storm. It stands to reason that Rockstar would want a piece of that cake, and the publisher definitely has the resources to pull it off.

Rockstar’s acquisition of Cfx.re is another strong indicator that the game studio is planning to lean heavily into UGC. Cfx.re was responsible for the widely popular FiveM RP platform for GTA 5, as well as RedM, which served the same purpose for Red Dead Redemption 2. With this team now under Rockstar, future creations from the player community will undoubtedly have their place within GTA 6, and it likely won’t be a small part of the gaming experience. It’ll be as if NFTs had some actual use.

Given all of the hints and clues about GTA 6 UGC, it’s almost certain the game will feature extensive user-generated content support. Rockstar knows how to innovate and does so with absolute polish, so we’re more than justified to be excited to see what they have in store.