When it comes to video game development, various studios go through development cycles to help churn out content and plan ahead for the future. What this means for GTA Online is that players should expect that during the summer of 2023, there should be a new major DLC update for Grand Theft Auto Online.
What exactly is coming to GTA Online in the upcoming summer? Will there be a new major story that players will be able to experience? Will it have ties into the upcoming game, Grand Theft Auto 6? We are here to give you the latest updates for everything we know about the next major update to GTA Online, so read on!
Update on 17 March 2023 - We've checked for the latest news and leaks relating to the 2023 GTA Online Summer Update.
Latest News
It's somewhat interesting that after months of hints at the inclusion of Michael De Santa from GTA V, we end up getting his therapist Dr Friedlander in the new 'Last Dose' Missions.
We're one step closer to the release of the GTA Online Summer update for 2023.
Normally players wouldn't get any extra content released in between the Winter and Summer update, but this year, Rockstar Games have chosen to release their Winter update as a two-parter.
The second section of the GTA Online: Los Santos Drug Wars update is set to release on March 16.
It'll be interesting to see if any leakers manage to discover anything in the aftermath of the update that might relate to what's coming to the game further down the line.
When Will The GTA Online 2023 Summer Update Release?
When it comes down to it, Rockstar Games usually release new expansions to GTA Online at fairly similar times each year.
Since 2019 players have always got at least two significant updates to the game each year. the first comes in the Summer, with the second update droping in the Winter.
If you look at the table below, you can see precisely when Rockstar Games has released these updates.
Since Rockstar Games almost always drop a Summer Update in July/August each year, it seems fairly nailed on that the 2023 GTA Online Summer update will release at some point after July 25, 2023.
Naturally, it's impossible to say for sure what day the update will drop, this is just a prediction for the time being, but as you can see on the table below, there's certainly enough evidence to suggest this is the release window Rockstar will be aiming for.
| GTA Online Update | Release Date |
| Los Santos Drug Wars |
December 13th, 2021
|
| The Criminal Enterprises |
July 26th, 2022
|
| The Contract |
December 15th, 2021
|
| Los Santos Tuners | July 20th, 2021. |
| The Cayo Perico Heist |
December 15th, 2020
|
| Los Santos Summer Special |
August 11th, 2020.
|
| The Diamond Casino Heist |
December 12th, 2019
|
| The Diamond Casino & Resort |
July 23rd, 2019.
|
| Arena War |
December 11th, 2018
|
| After Hours |
July 24th, 2018.
|
| Southern San Andreas Super Sport Series |
March 20th, 2018
|
GTA Online Summer 2023 Update Leaks
At the time of this writing, nothing major has leaked yet for the summer DLC update for GTA Online. Although data miners have given us an idea of what we could expect, and potentially it might revolve around the return of fan favourite Michael De Santa from GTA V.
It's of course worth noting that, as with all leaks, you should take everything with a pinch of salt until it's fully confirmed or denied by Rockstar Games. Now we have that disclaimer out of the way, here's the scoop.
During 2022 a number of dataminers found a few new references to movie sets in the game's code (see below). As suggested by GTA Online expert TezFunz2, it could be the game is setting things up nicely for some sort of DLC surrounding Michael De Santa. After all, during The Contract DLC, Franklin Clinton mentions that Michael De Santa is still alive and working as an associate producer for Solomon Richards at Richards Majestic Studios.
Data miners for GTA Online have found that the movie set in GTA Online has a new scenario spawn point on it. What this usually means is that there is a story mission involved with this location in the game.
Data miners expected that this scenario spawn point was going to be part of the most recent Winter DLC, but it's still going unused. So potentially this movie studio might be part of the Summer 2023 update.
We will update this page as we learn more.
For more GTA Online news be sure to check out our dedicated section, or some of our Guides & Tutorials, just below:
GTA Online Guides - GTA Online Weekly Update | Prize Ride This Week | Podium Car This Week | GTA+ Rewards This Month | GTA Online Winter Update | Exotic Exports Car List | Imani Tech Upgrades |
GTA Online Los Santos Drug Wars Guides - Los Santos Drug Wars Mission List | All New Cars In GTA Online Los Santos Drug Wars | GTA Online Acid Lab Explained | All Snowman Collectible Locations |
GTA Online Heists - Doomsday Heist Payout | Diamond Casino Heist Payout | Cayo Perico Heist Payout | How To Get the Panther Statue on Cayo Perico |
GTA Online Collectibles - LD Organics Locations | M16 Service Carbine Locations | Treasure Hunt Locations |
GTA Online Best Businesses - Best Agency | Best Arcade | Best Auto Shop | Best Bunker | Best Cocaine Lockup | Best Counterfeit Cash Factory | Best Document Forgery | Best Facility | Best Hanger | Best MC Clubhouse | Best Meth Lab | Best Nightclub | Best Office | Best Weed Farm |
