GTA Online's upcoming Bikers update, which will be released on the 4th of October, has been kicking up a lot of dust in the gaming press. It's fitting too that it should be stealing headlines, seeing as we're talking about one of the most hotly anticipated DLC updates for the game since release. Online maintains a growing and thriving biker sub-community who haven't been represented yet unlike the racers.
Bikers was first leaked a good long while ago, however as is the case with all leaks no matter how plausible-looking, we were cautious about coming to any conclusions, as anything less than official news has the risk of being fake. The DLC was finally officially announced last week, sending the GTA Online community off its rails.
While Rockstar has incorporated fan suggestions into GTA Online in a limited manner before, the devs usually did whatever they felt like doing and did not really conform to public requests and opinion in their content.
Meanwhile, the public was clearly wishing for a biker themed DLC. Requests for it popped up in all GTA related fan communities. Reddit was full of suggestions for it, and comment sections under Newswire posts had a few commenters calling for a biker DLC regardless of the topic of the post itself. The demand was obvious.
And then came a petition, calling on Rockstar to develop and release a biker themed DLC. Currently, the number of signatures on the petition are at 18,396. The petition also contained a rudimentary design outline of what kind of features the proposed DLC should countain, such as customization options, new bikes, returning bikes from other GTA games and clubhouses for the MCs.
While it is true that these are all pretty much necessary when creating an update with this theme, and Rockstar has not cited the petition in any way via its posts, it could be interesting to note that as far as we know every single point described by the petition will be in the update. Every. One.
We're not saying the petition alone, which had the signatures of a tiny, minute fraction of the total GTA Online player base, drew Rockstar to create the DLC, however it obviously contributed to the effort. What this does indicate is that Rockstar is now more open towards producing the content the community wants it to produce, as opposed to producing the content they think the community will like.
But what of the future? What will this mean for GTA Online DLC down the line? Chances are that maybe Rockstar could come around to ticking a few more boxes on the community requests list. Could further DLC request petitions offer us a glimpse into the future of Online? Will the devs fulfill the most popular wishes?
While it might be too optimistic to think so based on just one DLC, we're thinking that it is likely that Rockstar will turn to the community for content inspiration going forward. In this case, the most likely upcoming update for GTA Online sometime after Bikers will be something related to police.
Some kind of police themed DLC has been requested for almost as long and by almost as many people as Bikers. GTA IV's Cops N' Crooks mode is often fondly remembered by players, who miss it from Online. In fact, that one mode has been featured in one of the videos we showcased in last week in our Top Videos list, which was a mock-up trailer for it being brought to Online.
Another piece of evidence proving how popular the idea of a police themed DLC is GTA 5's biggest, most ambitious and arguably the most praised mod: LSPDFR. Los Santos Police Department First Response is a massive total conversion mod which takes Grand Theft Auto 5 as its basis, and builds a whole new, feature rich gaming experience filled with all kinds of law enforcement activities and role-play opportunities.
In fact, here's a wild idea — it isn't unprecedented in the AAA industry for extremely ambitious and well developed mods result in their developers being hired by the company behind the game they modded. What if the LSPDFR team is hired by Rockstar, and the mod is turned into officially sanctioned content?
Even if LSPDFR itself isn't "canonized", the popularity of the mod cannot be understated. Even without that mod however, there remains almost as many requests floating around for a police DLC to be added to GTA Online as there were for Bikers. If it comes to pass, it would be a game-changer of sorts.
Naturally, GTA has always stuck to criminal activity in terms of official content other than Cops N' Crooks. Even if the frame of a police DLC is that the player infiltrates the LSPD under false pretenses and is working for corrupt cops, adding random events and new jobs which involve arresting criminals or busting illegal shipments, players will be put on the other end of the barrel.
That said, GTA Online is primed for such a shift in terms of mechanics. The VIP/CEO system introduced a mechanic wherein players temporarily enter a state with certain restrictions, such as passive mode being disabled and certain activities being locked out.
In a theoretical police DLC, players would be allowed to "go undercover", during which time they have to wear a police uniform, cannot partake in regular jobs and missions, and have to "maintain their cover" by occasionally doing real police work, like responding to random 911 calls (sometimes made by other players) or arresting criminals.
Cops N' Crooks, in turn, is perfect material for a new Adversary Mode. Considering how many people wish for the return of the game mode that it would be popular and would have a large player base. It would definitely benefit from slightly large payouts, sure, but even so, its name alone would attract players.
A police DLC for GTA Online is anticipated and mechanically possible. Add to this the fact that Bikers started as a community request, and we think there is a chance for it to become a reality soon.
Would you be happy about a police DLC for GTA Online?
