Rockstar Games has not officially confirmed the existence, structure, or release window of a dedicated online component for Grand Theft Auto VI, but speculation on a "GTA VI Online" mode has dominated community discussion since the title's announcement (Take-Two Interactive, 2023). Because Grand Theft Auto Online (hereafter GTA Online) has evolved over more than a decade into a serialised, semi-canonical extension of the GTA V narrative, its ongoing arcs provide the most reliable framework for forecasting how Rockstar might continue character threads into a Leonida-set successor (Wikipedia, 2026). This report surveys the principal narrative arcs still active in GTA Online as of the A Safehouse in the Hills update (December 2025) and considers which of those threads are most likely to be carried, retired, or rebooted when GTA VI launches.
The most recent and arguably most consequential arc is anchored by Mr. Faber, a corrupt banker introduced through Martin Madrazo in the Money Fronts update, and continued in A Safehouse in the Hills (Wikipedia, 2026). Faber's network launders money across criminal organisations, and the closing beat of the 2025 storyline has Faber promising the player that he will "be in touch" after the KnoWay mercenary attack on the player's mansion is repelled with the help of Michael De Santa (GTA Fandom, 2026). The deliberately unresolved Faber tease, combined with the reintroduction of Michael as a movie producer, is widely read by the community as a hand-off device that could plausibly bridge into GTA VI.
Running in parallel is the KnoWay storyline, in which Avi Schwartzman recruits the player to expose a tech company using autonomous taxis for mass surveillance (Wikipedia, 2026). This thread continues GTA Online's long-running interest in AI antagonists, which began with Avon Hertz and the Cliffford AI in The Doomsday Heist (2017) and resurfaced in San Andreas Mercenaries via Cliffford's backup drives (Wikipedia, 2026). Speculation holds that a Leonida-set sequel, with its Florida tech and influencer satire visible in the GTA VI Trailer 1, would naturally inherit this surveillance-state thematic spine (Rockstar Games, 2023).
Miguel Madrazo's rise within his father Martin's organisation, El Rubio's removal from Cayo Perico, and the player's ownership of a Kosatka nuclear submarine remain unresolved status quos rather than closed arcs (Wikipedia, 2026). Cayo Perico's Caribbean setting is geographically adjacent to Leonida, and journalist speculation has long flagged the island as a potential bridge location into GTA VI (GTA Fandom, 2026).
The Contract (2021) re-established Franklin Clinton as an operator of a celebrity solutions agency, while Lamar's LD Organics cannabis venture continues to expand (Wikipedia, 2026). Both characters are now positioned as veteran operators whose businesses could plausibly continue off-screen, providing radio chatter or cameo hooks in a Leonida game rather than playable content.
Agent ULP's IAA storyline formally cut ties with the player at the end of the Cluckin' Bell Farm Raid aftermath, but Jodi Marshall's anti-FIB operations from the Darnell Bros. front remain ongoing (Wikipedia, 2026). This intelligence-agency thread mirrors GTA VI leaks suggesting a continued focus on federal corruption in Vice City and Leonida.
Three speculative scenarios dominate community discourse. First, a "soft reboot" in which GTA Online continues to run in San Andreas while GTA VI Online launches as a separate Leonida-based service, mirroring how GTA Online itself was retained after GTA V's single-player conclusion (Wikipedia, 2026). Second, a "migration" model in which the silent protagonist's wealth and properties transfer to Leonida via Faber's laundering network, providing an in-fiction justification for character continuity (GTA Fandom, 2026). Third, a "clean slate" launch with only thematic echoes — Cliffford-style AI, Madrazo-aligned cartels, Merryweather remnants — rather than direct character carryover, which Take-Two's reluctance to confirm legacy content arguably supports (Take-Two Interactive, 2023).
The unresolved Faber tease, the surveillance/AI throughline, and Cayo Perico's proximity to Leonida collectively suggest Rockstar has been seeding optional connective tissue rather than mandatory continuity. Whether GTA VI Online arrives as a direct sequel service or a clean-slate experience, the existing GTA Online arcs provide a deep narrative backlog from which Rockstar can draw selectively.
GTA Fandom (2026) Grand Theft Auto Online. Available at: https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_Online (Accessed: 14 May 2026).
Rockstar Games (2023) Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 1. Available at: https://www.rockstargames.com/VI (Accessed: 14 May 2026).
Take-Two Interactive (2023) Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. announces Grand Theft Auto VI. Press release, 5 December.
Wikipedia (2026) Grand Theft Auto Online. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_Online (Accessed: 14 May 2026).