Heists Are Finally, For Real, Coming to GTA Online
This is not a dream, not a hoax or an imaginary story. Rockstar Games has finally officially announced Heists for Grand Theft Auto Online with a new trailer and an “early 2015” date.
The trailer kicks off with a little jab at fans who have impatiently awaited the long-delayed mode, as Lester chides a player with “I know you’ve been complaining, but you weren’t ready.”
The video then gives us some previews of what heists might involve and it looks ambitious and impressive, with players in crews sent to do individual tasks and complete multiple objectives to make sure the heist goes through.
The four-player mode will also include “new gameplay, new vehicles, new weapons, new clothing and much more,” according to Rockstar.
GTA Online producer and lead mission designer Imran Sarwar told IGN that there will be 5 heists at the feature’s launch which will include 20 missions and more than 20 hours of gameplay.
The heists are for level 12 players and above. One player is the heist leader and must have a high-end apartment to plan the heist. Lester contacts the heist leader, who invites players to the crew and picks positions and other elements of how the heist will go down. The heist leader needs to personally front the setup costs for each heist.
Each heist includes missions that may split players or have them working together, so teamwork and coordination is very important. They all build to a big set piece finale where players take on multiple roles.
As for why heists took so long to get in the game, Sarwar said that they honestly “just turned out to be a lot more difficult than we originally thought” to make. Sarwar said the team found that getting all the complex elements of the heists to work together was a tough task, and it took a lot of work to get the mode to a level the team was happy with.