14 DAY TRIAL // Rockstar Games confirms that, due to even more work required from its team, the long-awaited multiplayer heists for the Grand Theft Auto 5 online mode are now set to appear in early 2015, and not as part of the first major update for the game across PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One platforms.
GTA 5 arrived for the PS3 and Xbox 360 back in September of last year, and right after it, via a free update, developer Rockstar Games brought forth the GTA Online multiplayer mode that allowed fans to roam the huge open world and engage in all sorts of crazy activities.
Unfortunately, one of the standout features of the story campaign – the large heists – wasn’t available as standard in the multiplayer mode, although Rockstar promised that it would get them into the online experience as fast as possible.
Many months passed since then and the studio also launched the title onto the PS4 and Xbox One, while working hard on the PC edition that's set to appear next month.
It has since issued a new release period for the online heists, claiming that they'll be introduced in GTA 5 across PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One as part of the first major update for the game.
Online heists are now coming next year
Now, it seems that such a thing won't actually happen, as Rockstar confirms to IGN that a new release period is being targeted for the online heists, in the form of "early 2015."
While talking about the actual heists, Rockstar's GTA Online Producer and Lead Mission Designer Imran Sarwar reveals that the task of getting the heists to work with multiple players has been really challenging.
"To be honest, they just turned out to be a lot more difficult than we originally thought," he admits. "Our initial idea was to build on the concept of Story Mode heists to make a new gameplay experience for GTA Online that was more focused on cooperation, where everyone could play to their individual strengths and feel like they had a stake in the outcome."
Lots of obstacles prevented the heists from appearing sooner
However, in practice, creating complex missions was very difficult and filled with bad surprises that caused the whole concept to come crashing down.
Throw in the fact that Rockstar also allocated plenty of resources to GTA 5 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One due to its new features and options, and the studio had a tough time striving for quality in the online heists.
"All of these projects are linked and require the attention of our core team at all times, so despite our best efforts, we simply wound up needing more time to make sure every one of these projects was as good as it could possibly be. We never want to have to move a date but if something is delayed, it’s because it’s not at the level we expect of ourselves. And while we’re not there yet, we’re getting close and Heists will be ready early in 2015," he adds.
As such, expect to see the actual online heists for GTA 5's multiplayer in the first few months of 2015. Until then, check out some fresh screenshots.
