With the year coming to a close, all of the game of the year and other retrospective awards are being finalized and announced. A few days ago, we posted a poll asking players what they felt the best content update GTA Online received in 2016 was. The votes are in, and it's time to name the winner.
Before we get on to that, it's important to remember just how momentous a year 2016 was for GTA Online. There were ups, there were downs, and many changes both in terms of content, player base and policy. In the end however, we got a whole lot of free DLC, a bunch of new players and a handful of new systems which shook up gameplay time and again. But, without further ado...
This came as a pretty major surprise for us, seeing as Import/Export was the most divisive, and probably most openly hated update this past year on various GTA community sites. However, it seems that amid all the controversy and malcontent, the majority of players realized the potential behind this DLC and enjoyed its return to form.
Import/Export takes the base concept of the entire GTA franchise — namely, the stealing of cars — and propels it back into the spotlight. With GTA 5, and Online particularly, having strayed so far from this root premise with things like Cunning Stunts and Bikers (and Deadline, but that one was welcome), it was refreshing to see Rockstar honor the game's past.
Finally, GTA would once again revolve around the grand theft of autos. Import/Export promised a new way to get rich in the game, by stealing premium high-end cars and selling them to the highest bidder. Naturally, the gameplay would be more complex than simply grabbing any old car from the street and taking it to a drop-off point.
Sourcing vehicles can be a pretty complex task, as is selling them after you've given the goods a facelift at your dedicated vehicle warehouse. The new update encourages teaming up with your mates, since that way you can sell multiple vehicles in one go, maximizing efficiency as opposed to waiting out the timer for each car when working alone.
Import/Export also added 8 pretty whacky special vehicles which really spice up gameplay. Wedge cars, trucks with massive plows welded to their front sections, amphibious technicals, rocket-powered voltics and the GTA version of KITT from Knight Rider were all added to the game.
The update also kicked up quite a bit of controversy, which is why we're surprised that it won, and not even by a little — almost half of the voters picked Import/Export as their favorite DLC. Import/Export was criticized for its high prices and steep initial investment.
At first, it's easy to assume that the actual import and export missions of the DLC pay pretty bad, but if you remember to do the collections and use this method to skip over the cheap cars, you can make a fortune in no time.
If you're struggling to make a buck in Import/Export, check out our guide for the best methods and techniques to make the most of the new content. There is plenty of potential in it to make good cash, and when combined with other popular methods, you won't need to worry about saving up for 2017's first update.
It was actually tough picking our own DLC of the Year between three strong contenders. Both Cunning Stunts and Deadline were also considered alongside our eventual choice, but in the end, Finance and Felony won out. While Deadline is awesome because Tron, and Cunning Stunts shook up GTA Online's status quo, the former was still just a minor update while the latter didn't really mix up the money-making scene.
Further Adventures in Finance and Felony expanded on the concept of last year's Executives and Other Criminals by adding a complex new CEO mechanic, with black market crate missions as a new way to pad your wallet. While this update also had a pretty high initial investment, making a return and eventual profit was a bit more straightforward. Overall it feels like Finance and Felony had a bigger impact on GTA Online than Import/Export will, since the latter is essentially an expansion for the former. Sure, I/E gave us the executive garages, but Finance and Felony gave us the offices to which those garages are added.
This was also the update which finally saw GTA Online's weapon loadout issue addressed, albeit only partially. A number of minor additions, new vehicles and customization items coupled with the main mechanic of filling up warehouses with goods before embarking on a perilous journey to sell them off made it a fun and fresh experience.
Selling crates remains to be one of the best ways to make cash in GTA Online, and it still stands as one of the biggest changes and additions that the game has received since heists. Import/Export's vehicle sourcing and selling is just a new spin on the mechanic Finance and Felony introduced, after all.
Whether it's Import/Export or Further Adventures in Finance and Felony, it's clear that 2016 was the year of the CEO" title=""> in GTA Online.
Did you also vote for Import/Export as GTA Online's DLC of the Year, or did you pick a different update?
