Rockstar Teases Vigilante Content in GTA Online Summer Update

Rockstar Games has finally begun to properly reveal some of the content that will enrich Grand Theft Auto Online soon in the form of the massive summer update everyone's been buzzing about (when their attention isn't focused on GTA 6, that is).

The big annual mid-year DLC looks to be fulfilling one of the longest standing fan wishes — you'll get to be a cop in GTA Online. Sort of.

To get the big questions out of the way first: we don't have a release date yet, nor has Rockstar revealed the official name of the summer update. At this point, the developers are only revealing some of the features, missions and other new content coming to the game sometime soonish.

One of the oldest and most common wishes for content among GTA Online fans — very confusingly — is the chance to become a cop in the game. This baffling fixation spawned petitions and fairly huge mods over the years, but never quite for further than that — it took long years before players could even get their own police car.

Tapping into the dirty side of corrupt law enforcement seems like the perfect subject matter for the classic socio-satirical themes and stories in the GTA franchise, so in a way we are surprised this wasn't done before — while Rockstar definitely touched upon the theme across the series, it never was shown from the player's perspective.

It seems the upcoming major summer GTA Online update will remedy this, albeit only to the narrative degree that any of the Online content delivers — the main function here is offering a repeatable gameplay loop. This will take shape in what Rockstar calls a "bail enforcement and bounty hunting business", that we guess will be the new main player business in the update.

Alongside the business you'll be running, there will be some more story-driven content in what we assume will be Contact Missions with Vincent Effenburger, former security chief at the Diamond and current LSPD officer. Vincent is definitely involved, and will be giving players missions tasking them with some off-the-books law enforcement.

That covers the 'sort of' part of becoming a cop — your GTA Online character won't be joining the LSPD - because with their history how possibly could they? — but you will be doing cop stuff, which probably means shooting a lot of people.

Alongside a bounty hunting business and cop missions, the major summer update is also usually the avenue for a bunch of miscellaneous improvements and additions to the overall GTA Online experience that otherwise don't fit into the themed profile of smaller updates — this is part of why its so hotly anticipated every year.

We'll be getting a huge influx of new vehicles and other items. Taxi Work, Open Wheel Races, Operation Paper Trail and other activities will get a permanent payout increase. Rockstar also used reports from the player feedback platform to add some quality of life changes that you guys asked for, like increased Sell Mission timers, automatically replenished snacks, and buffing specific vehicles.

The Creator is also getting some love, with extra attention paid to custom Drift Race tracks and Drag Race circuits. Alongside the ability to create races in these new categories, new additions accessible across the entire Creator will give you more ways to customize the environments of your Jobs and an easier way to test races from any of your checkpoints.

Rockstar will be revealing more details about the upcoming summer GTA Online update via the Newswire in the coming weeks, as well as a new suite of GTA+ subscriber bonuses as the switchover nears. In the meantime, dust off all those police outfit cosplays for your characters!