Rockstar Games talks with top metaverse creators, with an eye on making ‘Grand Theft Auto’ the next creator platform

Rockstar Games has been in discussions with top Roblox and Fortnite creators, as well as dedicated “GTA” content creators, about the potential to create custom experiences inside the upcoming game, according to three industry insiders with knowledge of these meetings, who requested anonymity in order to protect business relationships. These experiences would allow creators to modify the game’s environment and assets to bring their own intellectual property — and potentially their brand sponsors — into “GTA’s” virtual sandbox.

Representatives of Rockstar Games did not respond to requests for comment prior to the publication of this article.

Thus far, the conversations have remained relatively open-ended, and it’s unclear exactly how creators would benefit from bringing their IP and audiences into “GTA 6,” beyond the exposure that would come from having a presence inside one of the world’s most popular gaming properties. Creators in other metaverse platforms — who often refer to themselves as user-generated content, or UGC, creators — can make money by getting a cut of virtual item sales or through revenue share programs.

The ‘GTA’ ecosystem

A look into the creator ecosystem of “GTA 5” provides some insight into the potential future of “GTA 6” as a creator platform. Fourteen years after its release, the fifth iteration of “GTA” remains the most-watched game on Twitch, thanks in large part to the tremendous amount of activity taking place inside FiveM, a popular game modification that allows players to host and join multiplayer servers, or virtual worlds in which hundreds of users can play together simultaneously. Although Rockstar initially banned some of FiveM’s creators in 2015, the developer later acquired their company in 2023, signaling its tacit approval of the “GTA RP [role play]” community.

“It is my firm belief that is the reason that they purchased FiveM is exactly that — to spin up a metaversal universe of custom-built experiences, and potentially UGC items, with an attached UGC creator economy,” said Pete Basgen, global gaming and esports lead for WPP agency Wavemaker. “It will essentially occupy that adult-enumerated space at the top of the ecosystem; there’s a very natural place there for people that graduate from Roblox and Minecraft.”

Unlike the virtual worlds inside platforms such as Roblox and Fortnite, “GTA” servers hosted on FiveM charge users subscription fees to participate. Creators have made millions of dollars by charging users subscription fees that typically range between $25 to $100 per month in exchange for custom in-game cosmetic items and priority access in the queue to enter the servers, with FiveM skimming a cut of all subscription revenue. At the moment, metaverse platforms such as Fortnite and Roblox lack this kind of subscription functionality.

“I always kind of smile when people lump ‘GTA’ and Roblox and Minecraft together, because the experiences are so different,” said Chris Hopper, COO of talent management company Loaded, which operates the “GTA” role-playing server Prodigy RP. “A lot of what you see on Roblox and Minecraft feels so geared towards the direct-play experience — what do you, as a player, want to do? The foundation of ‘GTA RP’ has always been player-to-player interaction.”

In past iterations of “GTA,” Rockstar has declined to bring in real-life brands or advertisers, infamously preferring to use stand-in brand names such as “Sprunk” (Sprite) or “Krapea” (Ikea). With the game’s rumored $2 billion production cost, Rockstar may be incentivized to pull out all the monetization stops to recoup its investment on “GTA 6,” causing some observers to hope that Rockstar’s attitude toward ads will warm up as the release grows closer.

“If Rockstar embraces UGC, it’s a game-changer, plain and simple,” said Chad Mustard, COO of UGC gaming studio JOGO. “The demand for creator-driven experiences is already massive, and this could unlock unprecedented opportunities for studios like ours. The economics are proven, the audience is there, and we’re ready to build. This is the moment GTA creators have been waiting for.”