GTA 5’s Online Heists are launching in early 2015

Grand Theft Auto 5’s Online Heists will launch in early 2015, Rockstar Games has announced.

The four-player co-op mode for GTA Online allows players to plan, prepare and execute multi-tiered Heists across Los Santos and Blaine County.

The long-awaited feature was expected a lot sooner, but GTA Online producer Imran Sarwar has told IGN “they just turned out to be a lot more difficult than we originally thought”.

So what will players be getting access too early next year?

“Each heist requires 4 players all at rank 12 or above, with one player as the designated heist leader,” explains Sarwar. “Leading a heist requires owning a high-end apartment so that you have a room available to set up the planning board. From there you’ll be able to launch missions as the leader, starting with the prep work and building up to the score itself.”

The new gameplay is split into “five unique strands involving over 20 total missions, which will add up to around 20 hours of gameplay,” says Sarwar. “We hope players will then replay them multiple times to take on the other roles and to try different ways of tackling the missions.

“We’ve tried to add a lot of variety and there’s a mixture of open-ended gameplay, big set-pieces and a few surprises too.”

Complete all five heists in order with the same set of players and you’ll be rewarded, as will players who complete the content in first-person mode. You’ll also be able to take part in Elite Bonus Challenges which promise big cash rewards if you complete each part of a heist while meeting certain criteria.

As for that early 2015 release, Sarwar says: “We never want to have to move a date but if something is delayed, it’s because it’s not at the level we expect of ourselves. And while we’re not there yet, we’re getting close and Heists will be ready early in 2015.”

Source: IGN, Rockstar News Wire