GTA 6 Rumored to include Cryptocurrencies: What Impact Will This Have on The Industry?

4 min readJul 6, 2022

When the fifth game in the GTA series was released, critics met it with defeatism and skepticism. The game was set in modern times, an unusual setting for a Grand Theft Auto game.

What’s more, the release was (at the time) on last-gen consoles — something most people had given up on. Its announcement was amidst a lot of negative press about video games.

However, none of this stopped GTA V from becoming the biggest selling game of all time and the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise one of the most successful video game series ever.

Explaining GTA’s Enduring Success

There are several ways to gauge the success of a video game, and with 165 million units sold since its inception, this action-adventure game has lived up to its Rockstar fame.

To be clear, it is not surprising to see why the fifth installment in the Grand Theft Auto series is considered the highest-grossing game in history.

GTA V offers players an immersive experience with exceptionally high-quality graphics; plus, the game setting featured more detail than any other AAA title, past or present.

A major reason why GTA V still ranks regularly among the top 5 selling games worldwide is thanks to GTA Online. GTA Online is a dynamic and ever-evolving online universe for up to 30 players to engage in multiplayer missions and gameplay. Thanks to in-game microtransactions, GTA V still grosses $2.5 million daily, primarily due to GTA Online. The reason why it’s been a decade since the last GTA game is because Online is still grossing major revenue and reduced the necessity for a new GTA game.

Besides outstanding gameplay, GTA pioneered 3D sandbox gaming, allowing players to explore a vast open world at pleasure.

GTA 6 Development and Release

GTA 6 is confirmed to be in production, but there are no hints to the game’s possible release date.

Still, there is considerable enthusiasm and speculation within the GTA fan community.

Especially for the game’s upcoming features:

Beyond general gameplay upgrades, numerous leaks indicate new game modes could also come to GTA Online in its next iteration — with insiders even pointing to a ‘battle royale-type mode’ that could feature up to 100 players and even a P2E integration.

Either way, with over $100 million to be spent on marketing alone, it is clear Rockstar North is pulling out all the stops

Crypto on GTA 6?

The meteoric rise in cryptocurrency use among gamers has phenomenally affected the gaming sector.

Finally, players can pay for in-game items like avatars, power-ups, exclusive themes, etc., using cryptocurrency to earn rewards while playing games.

Because of the rise of sub-genres like P2E, NFTs, and virtual games, the global gaming market is expected to grow even further — Technavio estimates a $125.65 billion increase in just three years.

If one of the world’s most prominent games features crypto rewards and P2E mechanics, the industry could surge even faster.

The Spillover Effects of a GTA 6 and Crypto Coupling

We cannot confirm if this concept will come to fruition, but rumors ascertain cryptocurrency will play a significant plot element in GTA 6.

Players could earn money differently — by completing missions or participating in an asset market similar to the Liberty City Stock Exchange (GTA 4) and BAWSAQ (GTA V).

Even if the notion is outlandish — if GTA implemented such a feature, it would be a gamechanger for the blockchain industry and could help legitimize crypto in the mainstream economy.

Connecting Blockchain to The Real World

Despite being the most significant innovation of our time, cryptocurrency is still met with a great deal of skepticism among gamers.

Other than enhancing the players’ immersive gaming experience and improving the game’s thematic and narrative design, using crypto as a reward for completing missions would make game economies more dynamic and realistic.

Considering this, it’s conceivable that introducing cryptocurrency into GTA 6 might establish norms around in-game asset and currency trading, connecting crypto seamlessly to the real world and creating a sense of permanence of crypto in the game market and a greater clarity for global audiences.

A Seismic Step in The Right Direction

Blockchain, NFTs, and play-to-earn models are already altering the production of video games, and this trend appears poised to continue.

According to a recent survey, game developers increasingly use blockchain technology to draw in new players and access new markets.

If the GTA crypto integration succeeds, creators will integrate blockchain into more video games, plus the spill-over effects involve increasingly authentic blockchain use cases.

It’s still unknown whether GTA 6 featuring crypto rewards will be the tipping point for mass adoption — but it would undoubtedly be a positive step in the right direction.

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