June is coming to an end, and looking back on the past month, the pre-sale of "Black Myth: Wukong" and the "Elden Ring" DLC, which has just been launched for a week, have attracted the attention of most single-player gamers. These two topical titles are so hot that they ignore the recent changes that have taken place in a classic game that has been in operation for ten years.
A few days ago, "GTAOL" released a new update content. In addition to regular missions, vehicles, costumes, and discounted content, R-Star also brings a new feature called "Vinewood Club". With this new feature, players can use their mobile phones in online mode to purchase ammo, vehicles, and collect money, which undoubtedly improves the gaming experience.
However, this feature, which benefits players, is a paid item and is only available to GTA+ subscribers. From a certain point of view, it is equivalent to the player downloading a paid app in the mobile phone in the game, and this news naturally caused many people to be dissatisfied. Because from the perspective of ordinary players, I have a gap with paying users for the first time.
GTA+ membership has only been available for a long time, and the subscription service will only go live in 2022 when GTAOL gets its next-gen update. For $5.99, players can earn 500,000 in-game coins each month, an exclusive Rider Club, a shark card top-up offer, and additional prestige in-game currency in some modes. This function also brought a significant increase to the financial report data of R Star in the next two years.
In April, GTA+ members announced a price increase from $5.99 to $7.99. Although the increase has come to 33%, there is not much resistance among players. Until this update, non-member players took the lead and couldn't sit still.
You must know that although there are many membership benefits given by "GTA+" members before, they are all some discounts and in-game currency rewards. Ordinary players can also get a similar experience through the various activities and missions of the game itself if they want to. However, the update to the "Vinewood Club" has upset the original balance, and "GTA+" members have gained real privileges.
Players complained that R Star has been tentative, and has continued to increase membership benefits, until now "GTA+" members have obtained features that ordinary members do not have. What's more, it could also be applied to GTA 6, which will be released next year. Players have no doubt that this multiplayer online game will become the most profitable non-MMO game in history in the future.
I won't go into the details of how successful the GTA franchise is, as it's one of the highest-selling titles in gaming history, with sales figures measured in hundreds of millions. The non-stop update of "GTAOL" for ten years is the most important means to maintain the popularity of this IP. If it weren't for GTAOL, maybe GTA6 would have been online in 2020.
But now, the multiplayer online game is becoming an online game. And the practice of "krypton gold can unlock the full game function" is no longer used in many domestic online games. Once Pandora's Box is opened, it's hard to imagine a change in focus in future content updates.
So what do you want to say about this wave of operations on the R star?