Why GTA 5 Doesn't Have Single-Player Expansion

Rockstar exec Imran Sarwar opens up on why Grand Theft Auto V has not had any single-player DLC. It has been four years since the action-adventure title was released, but fans are still waiting on a possible story mode DLC for the game. As it turns out, the lack of it was not planned and may even change in the future if Sarwar's newest comments come to fruition.

It's not like GTA 5 is not primed for any story campaign on top of what was initially included in the game. The title has an open-ended narrative and Rockstar has been known to roll-out well-received DLC packs such as Grand Theft Auto 4's The Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost And Damned. Besides, its online multiplayer mode, Grand Theft Auto Online has been getting a steady slew of add-ons, so why the scarcity when it comes to single player?

Speaking to Game Informer, the Rockstar design director explained that there are several key reasons why they haven't taken advantage of the opportunity to expand the narrative of GTA 5. Among Sarwar's reasons include him stating the obvious -- they opted to focus on GTA Online instead given its immense popularity:

"No, it was not really a conscious decision, it’s just what happened. We would love to do more single-player add-ons for games in the future. As a company we love single-player more than anything, and believe in it absolutely – for storytelling and a sense of immersion in a world, multiplayer games don’t rival single-player games. With GTA V, the single-player game was absolutely massive and very, very complete. It was three games in one. The next-gen versions took a year of everyone’s time to get right, then the online component had a lot of potential, but to come close to realizing that potential also sucked up a lot of resources. And then there are other games – in particular Red Dead Redemption II. The combination of these three factors means for this game, we did not feel single-player expansions were either possible or necessary, but we may well do them for future projects. At Rockstar, we will always have bandwidth issues because we are perfectionists and to make huge complex games takes a lot of time and resources. Not everything is always possible, but we still love single-player open-world games more than anything. I don’t think you could make a game like GTA V if you did not like single-player games and trying to expand their possibilities!"

While GTA 5 continues to be a top-performing title, its online mode has basically stolen its thunder. Fans have continued to drive revenues for Rockstar and its parent company Take-Two via microtransactions. There are even swirling rumors that the company is supposedly looking to shine a light more on GTA Online instead of it being just a side feature for future installments of the gaming franchise. On a business perspective, it does make sense for the developer to opt this route as it rakes them profits, but they also need to make sure that they do not neglect and take for granted other aspects of the game because if done right, it can also help them further boost sales.

In the end, it all comes down to clever allocation of time and resources if Rockstar wants to also expand Grand Theft Auto V's story campaign. That way, they'll cater to all their fans and not just focus on a specific demographic.