GTA Online Is Designed With Single-Player In Mind

thegamer.com:

According to Rockstar North's design director, although GTA Online started out with multiplayer experiences in mind, it's now designed around single-player, with that experience "changed and improved" by adding more people.

Alongside games like Warzone, Fortnite, and Roblox, GTA Online stands as one of the biggest multiplayer games of all time, even as it approaches its tenth anniversary. Being so well-known for its multiplayer first and foremost, it might surprise you to learn that Rockstar actually designs new GTA Online content with single-player in mind, not multiplayer.

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In an interview with GamesRadar+ to celebrate the fact that GTA Online is in its tenth year, Rockstar North's design director, Scott Butchard, talks about how the game has evolved in that time. At one point in the interview, Butchard talks about how the team wants all players to be able to experience GTA Online's content together, which leads to him reflecting on how the approach has changed from a multiplayer focus to one that's designed around single-player first and foremost.

Butchard said, "Looking back, at the start we were pushing GTA Online primarily as a multiplayer experience – whether it was cooperative or competitive, we felt we needed to get players in and have fun playing together in a shared space. As time went on, we realized so much of the experience works better when we provide more potential to enjoy the game on an individual level, and that the core experience can then be changed and improved upon by playing with others."

Although most old-school GTA Online players (like me) will probably be thinking about all of the times they've been chased down and killed by