GTA Online Canned GTA 4's Cops 'N' Crooks Mode
Is there any stopping the runaway train that is Grand Theft Auto? We know GTA 6 is on the way, but in the meantime, we have the ongoing goliath of GTA Online to keep us busy. While Red Dead Online has been put out to pasture, GTA Online is still going strong. However, could it have been even bigger thanks to the inclusion of a fan-favourite mode from the franchise's past?
Some 25 years after we first got behind the wheel for DMA Design's top-down slugger, Rockstar Games has the reins to the most profitable franchise of all time - sorry to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, it was a move into the 3D universe with GTA III in 2001 that really catapulted the series forward. Since then, GTA has a licence to print money, with 2008's GTA IV behind held by many as the best there's been.
Did GTA Online Cut Cops 'N' Crooks?
Click to enlargeAway from the main adventure of Niko Bellic and the acclaimed expansion of The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, GTA 4 has a small multiplayer experience. Although this is one of the game's weaker elements, you can see how it set the scene for what would eventually become GTA Online. An easy highlight was the beloved Cops 'n' Crooks mode.
We've heard a lot about the supposed Liberty City expansion that would bring GTA IV to GTA Online, but yet again, we've been duped because it's yet to materialise. Sticking with this world, reports claim Rockstar axed Cops 'n' Crooks from the online multiplayer as recently as 2020. Apparently, there are no plans to bring it back either - with the George Floyd protests being a contributing factor.
In THAT massive Bloomberg report, Cops 'n' Crooks was reportedly pulled due to worries from senior executives about how this portrayal of the police would come across. In Cops 'n' Crooks, the PvP mode split teams into two. The crooks had to try and escort themselves or their bosses to safety while the cops tried to eliminate them. Even though Rockstar has never been afraid to stray into controversy in GTA, the Black Lives Matter and ACAB movements mean Cops 'n' Crooks was likely a little close to the bone.
Will GTA Online Get A GTA 4 Update?
We're used to GTA rumours missing the mark, but a lot of them are being debunked recently. The critical panning of the GTA Trilogy is thought to have changed the way Rockstar handles its IPs, with the 2021 disaster reportedly leading to new-gen remasters of GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption being shown the door. Still, we don't know what's happened to mythical GTA Online updates that were supposed to add GTA V's Michael and a GTA 4 expansion.
Giving a small glimmer of hope that there's more to come, the recent update was a massive overhaul of a game that is nearly a decade old. July 26's The Criminal Enterprises update didn't bring Cops 'n' Crooks to GTA Online, but it does let you step up as IAA agents. With GTA 6 out there somewhere - and work destined to continue on GTA Online - there's a bright future ahead for the GTA V spin-off. Just don't expect Cops 'n' Crooks to arrive anytime soon.
