Why GTA Online is the story mode expansion fans have always wanted

When GTA Online first made its way onto consoles back in 2013, shortly after GTA 5, fans were pleasantly surprised to learn that the game would contain story elements as well.

While at the time, the story elements were restricted to a handful of Contact Missions and a few throwaway lines in the tutorial, there was still a lot of potential. Potential on which Rockstar capitalized on with future title updates that added more story elements to GTA Online in the form of recurring characters, heists, and even more Contact Missions.

It was pretty evident at first that the events taking place in GTA Online were a prequel to the events of Story Mode. This was clear as characters like Lester and Trevor would not refer to the events in Story Mode.

However, as time went on, fans grew even more vocal with each subsequent title update with their demands for a story mode expansion. Yet, when looking closely enough, GTA Online is just about the best expansion on story mode fans could ask for.

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Why GTA Online is the story mode expansion demanded by fans

While an argument could be made that GTA, for the longest time, has been all about the single-player experience, it is fair that the publisher will choose to evolve and adapt with the times. The reality of the games industry's current state is that fans are exponentially more responsive to online multiplayer games.

This is purely down to the fact that, on the one hand, they represent an endless amount of gameplay hours and replayability. Even when it's exceptionally great as GTA 5 or Red Dead Redemption 2, the story mode does not exactly warrant back-to-back replays.

Online multiplayer games such as Fortnite, Apex Legends, or even Call of Duty, for that matter, evolve over time and present an endless amount of value to the player. Through Shark Cards, GTA Online has remained massively profitable throughout its seven-year run in the industry and continues to churn out profits.

But merely looking at it from a numbers and economics standpoint isn't fair to the game. Rockstar has gone out of its way to include as many story elements in Online as possible to satisfy fans of such games.

It takes only one playthrough of the Cayo Perico Heist, through its setup and finale, to see the lengths to which Rockstar has gone for its story. From well-acted, full-fledged cutscenes to new and returning characters, GTA Online makes a brilliant case for itself as a story mode expansion in disguise.

While it started as a prequel, the timeline has extended way past the events of story mode and now takes place years after the events of GTA 5. So. while it isn't exactly a single-player expansion, fans of Rockstar's storytelling have much to love in Grand Theft Auto Online and its ridiculous, over-the-top story moments.