'GTA 6' release date: Next installment to feature paid subscription?

GTA 5[photo: YouTube Screen Capture/DomisLive GTA 5]

While players are still enjoying the numerous updates that developer Rockstar Games keeps on releasing for "Grand Theft Auto V," the more hardcore fans have been asking when the next expected installment, "Grand Theft Auto VI," will come out.

Meanwhile, speculations about the upcoming sequel keep on floating online. According to the latest rumors, the next "Grand Theft Auto" will be doing a "World of Warcraft" on the next title and may feature a paid subscription service.

In a report by Master Herald, it is mentioned that due to current gaming preferences, the developer and publisher wants to reinforce the multiplayer component of the next "GTA" as one of its main selling points. Checking out the franchise model that is "World of Warcraft," the industry follower said that "Grand Theft Auto VI" may also feature paid subscription.

However, it is Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the franchise and parent company of developer Rockstar Games, that may have strong feelings about wanting to go down the paid subscription route.

In an earlier interview with The Examiner, company CEO Strauss Zelnick was quoted as saying, "I wouldn't rule out a change in that business model over time. It has changed materially in the last five years. We have to be where the consumer is. But right now, it seems like making new iterations of existing IP and creating new hit franchises will continue to be our model for some time to come."

Rockstar Games has yet to comment on the issue, and it might be some time before confirmed details will be forthcoming. According to speculations, the developer is busy with "Red Dead Redemption 2," and the successor to the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise is still far in the future, 2017 or 2018 at the earliest. Meanwhile, the company is also busy updating the current installment, with the latest expansion for "GTA Online," the Executives and Other Criminals DLC, recently released.