Not going to lie, I’ve dabbled in the online aspects of Grand Theft Auto V a couple times over the summer on Xbox 360. I got bored pretty fast. Now that I’ve upgraded to Xbox One and the new, next-gen version of GTA V, I’m pretty amped for the next step in the franchise’s online, multiplayer evolution, despite all the annoying delays. Rockstar is finally preparing to unveil GTA V’s Heists mode in early 2015. This allows four people to have specific roles while pulling off various heist missions in Los Santos. This will involve, according to an interview at IGN, “five unique strands” that will include over 20 missions at around 20 hours of gameplay.
In a Q/A with GTA Online producer and lead mission designer Imran Sarwar, IGN reveals specific details:
Each heist requires 4 players all at rank 12 or above, with one player as the designated heist leader. Leading a heist requires owning a high-end apartment so that you have a room available to set up the planning board. From there you’ll be able to launch missions as the leader, starting with the prep work and building up to the score itself.
Being a heist leader has advantages and disadvantages. On the upside, Lester contacts the leader directly when there’s news of a job and it’s up to the leader to invite players into the crew, assign positions, pick outfits and allocate each player’s cut. On the other hand, the heist leader will need to personally front the set-up costs in order to successfully pull off the heist.
Unlike the leader, other crew members get a cash payout for each prep mission, while the leader won’t receive their cash until the finale is complete. Switching between the roles of crew member and heist leader will give players a totally different experience, and we had to make sure there were real incentives to playing each position so that players would see every aspect of how a heist comes together and not just want to stick to the same role each time.
Some missions have all players working as one unit, some require players to take on specific tasks like hacking or crowd control, while others require players to split into smaller teams to complete separate high value objectives. For example, one team may be stealing a getaway car from some gangsters while another team is attempting to sneak into a police station, all within the same prep mission. We really want to push the co-op aspect and make players feel like they need to communicate effectively and work together to pull off each element.
I know what I’m doing all winter.