GTA 6's server player count rumour could be great news for GTA Online 2.0

I've lived a thousand lives in GTA 5 roleplay. From robbing banks in the guise of a journalist, to singing The Proclaimers on a fake reality TV show, feasting on flesh as a vampire nightclub promoter, and trying (and failing) to clear a serial killer of murder while posing as a lawyer—I've seen it all.

I've played on servers that host 32 players, mirroring the official GTA Online base game blueprint, and I've nearly lost my mind in the roleplay scene's user-made 2,048-player spaces. Yes, the latter are as utterly chaotic as they sound.

With the GTA 6's console release date now peeking its head just above the horizon (May 26 of next year on the off-chance you've been hiding out in a Chiliad cave), internet rumours regarding the next evolution of the crime sim's enduring online offshoot are gaining pace. The usual amount of salt should be pinched with each passing one—as you might expect, Rockstar has kept its lips sealed tighter than Franklin and Lamar's friendship—but the latest faint rumblings regarding prospective online server player counts have grabbed my attention.

According to a chap named Fravilys, a one-time editor on French fansite Rockstar Mag, a so-called "inside source" reckons the in-development GTA Online 2.0 is currently working with 64-player servers behind the scenes—double that of regular GTA Online as it exists today—with the goal being to push that number to 96.

As per Fravilys' latest Medium post: "According to an inside source, the upcoming multiplayer game, codenamed 'GTA6MP', is currently at an advanced stage, much more so than it was during the original GTA Online, which was developed between 2008 and 2013.

"One of the most significant advances would be the ability to perform free-roam multiplayer activities with players from different sessions, without ever having to leave your own environment or experience loading times.

"The next version of GTA Online is said to be aiming for a seamless and immersive gaming experience, with the ambition of reaching up to 96 simultaneous players per session. However, according to my latest information, this figure is currently limited to 64 players."

Again, the veracity of those claims is a matter of debate, but if we were to assume Rockstar is indeed pushing for that 96-player number, I'd personally be delighted. A full GTA Online server at 32 players can still feel isolated depending on where on the Los Santos and Blaine County sprawl you're conducting your business at any given moment.

A cursory glance at FiveM's active servers right now shows a number of maps hosting 200, 300, 700 and 800 players, with a few of the aforementioned 2,048-player spaces on the list. At the time of writing, the most populated server is occupied by just over 650 players.

Having sampled pretty much everything FiveM's slant on Grand Theft Auto roleplay has to offer over the last several years, I'm a firm believer that 100 players is the sweet spot. It is, of course, worth noting that GTA 6's online offshoot will unfold inside an entirely different playground, but throwing in hundreds, even thousands of players into the same space will quickly become unhinged in any event.

In light of Rockstar's official acquisition of FiveM a couple of years back, you can bet your boots enterprising players will still strive to stuff as many freewheeling virtual criminals into the same killbox as possible nevertheless, however it seems all but certain Rockstar will aim for something a wee bit more measured on its official servers. Measured, but hopefully greater than what we're used to. And if that's the case, I'll all but certainly live a thousand more lives in this new-age interpretation of Vice City whenever it lands on PC.