By this point in GTA 4's lifecycle, it already had two big single-player DLC additions: The Lost & Damned, and The Ballad of Gay Tony. Meanwhile, Rockstar hasn't said anything about the "substantial additions" to GTA 5 that would continue the exploits of Michael, Franklin, and Trevor since December 2013 - and GTA Online seems to be the reason why.
Rockstar North director of design Imran Sarwar told IGN that the unexpected success of GTA Online (8 million players log in every week) made for a fundamental shift in the way the studio operates.
"We currently have all key members of the team that launched Grand Theft Auto 5 focused on supporting GTA Online in every capacity," Sarwar said. "The community we’ve been able to foster is massive, growing each day and we have so many ideas that have yet to make it into the game. The evolution of GTA Online on these newer platforms is also an exciting prospect as the power of those systems is going to allow us to achieve even more."
If all of GTA 5's key staff truly is focused on making more stuff like the huge upcoming Freemode update for GTA Online, that doesn't leave much room for working on single-player DLC. It's starting to look like Shawn Fonteno, the voice and motion capture actor for Franklin Clinton, may have been teasing an upcoming appearance in GTA Online rather than further work as a playable character.
I don't take any issue with Rockstar North focusing on GTA Online - it's a lot of fun, particularly with a few friends and a Freemode server to run rampant on - but this all would have been so much easier if the studio hadn't teased that Story Mode DLC in the first place.
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