GTA Online Players Decide When Support Ends

Which, in turn, means that they won't stop producing GTA Online content until things change. Either the player base decreases, or so few people will buy Shark Cards that it won't be profitable anymore. So long as neither of those two come to pass, you can bet on more content support for the game.

And so, it falls to the players to decide the future of GTA Online — or, more specifically, how long that future will be. In spite of the vocal community of fans active on various online forums constantly demonizing the practise of Shark Cards, it must be rememberd that this is but a tiny, tiny minority within the whole Online player base.

The numbers don't lie, and there are still plenty of people out there who invest in Shark Cards. The very frequent reverse-sale promotions Rockstar sets up must surely contribute, where buyers get more in-game cash for their real money. GTA Online's internal economy is built with Shark Cards in mind.

That said, it's still entirely viable to gain large amounts of cash without paying a single cent — if you know how. However, there is truth to claims that items in GTA Online are generally quite expensive. If you compare the price of items in relation to the average time needed to acquire a given amount of currency in the game (why isn't there an official measurement for this?), you'll find that things are more expensive than in most MMO.

However, there is a reason for this, and one that is rooted in the basic game mechanics of GTA Online. While we explore the topic in-depth here, the gist of it is that basically there is no end-game to speak of. Heists are not end-game, CEO work isn't end-game and Biker businesses are absolutely not end-game.

Without the end-game, Rockstar has to extent mid-game playtime in between updates lest players run out of content. If Rockstar truly didn't have much faith in GTA Online initially, then they accidentally happened upon a fundamental design scheme which feeds the "more popularity equals more content equals more popularity" loop.

In essence, GTA 5 is the current pinnacle of lucrative game design. Rockstar — possibly unwittingly — seamlessly merged the unprecedented recipe of success in terms of game sales with the best possible design model to promote microtransaction purchases while continually boosting the player base. Not only does their game sell insanely well, but it keeps selling even after it's sold.

Rockstar is clearly headed by wizards. Or something.

Have you bought Shark Cards in GTA Online?