While I see your point, I wouldn't categorize the extra content for GTAO as standard stand alone games.
Of course, they are not standalone games either. But the image act as if Rockstar has only been working on RDR2 since 2013 and has done nothing else. But that is factually wrong. In the end, the work on the DLCs for GTA Online has also tied up the same resources that a standalone expansion etc. would have.
Also, I disagree. I believe very well the image is worthy of displaying how Rockstar has lost its touch in these modern times.
Rockstar has hit an absolute nerve with GTA Online. I can still remember the "good old days" when my friends and I played GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas etc. and we always passed the controller around so that everyone could have a go. The MP in GTA IV was pretty good, but with GTA Online, Rockstar released the MP that my friends and I (and I'm sure many others) always wanted. The MP hit like a bomb for a reason. You can see that Rockstar was also surprised by the fact that they were originally actively working on SP content. But then they put the resources into the MP. So what should ultimately have been the SP DLCs was gradually transformed into content for GTA Online. The success proves Rockstar absolutely right with their decisions. Whether you like them or not.
However, observe their track record from 1999 to 2012. They used to have a consistent streak of varied, risky, creatively rich and experimental works.
This is actually not a Rockstar-specific phenomenon. Rather, it is a symbol of the state of the modern gaming industry in general. Incidentally, the film industry is in a similar situation. The cost of producing games and films has risen massively in recent years. If a product flops, this can now have massive consequences for companies. Companies are now faced with a decision:
1. Do we take a risk and develop something completely new?
2. Do we rely on existing, successful IPs and expand them?
Most companies opt for the second point. That is why there is a new COD every year, >13 parts of Assassin's Creed and so on and so forth. There is no doubt that this is not a free ticket to success. But the risk is simply lower, as there is already a fanbase that buys the garbage anyway, so that in the worst-case scenario you might get away with a +/- 0 profit/loss.
As mentioned earlier, in the film industry, it is the same problem 1:1. Disney took a risk back then with Pirates of the Caribbean when they made a movie about a theme park attraction. Nowadays, that is no longer conceivable. No company would take the risk. That is why Marvel, Star Wars etc. are milked to the max.
It all gets even more exciting when we look at how the film industry now earns (or, more precisely, does not earn) its money. Every studio now thinks it has to launch its own streaming service. It is just stupid that at some point people do not want to subscribe to 1000 providers who have to raise their prices every time, only to still not make a profit. The number of people going to the movies is also steadily decreasing, the sale of physical media has been constantly sabotaged by the studios for years anyway and here we are. This is all a huge bubble that will probably last for a long time. The video game industry is threatened with the same fate sooner or later. In my opinion, there is no getting around another video game crash.
But so much for that topic. I think that Rockstar is really making the best of the situation here. At least they have not fallen as low as other studios/publishers that are rigorously draining their IPs. While they also rely on “old” IPs. At least they take the time to create a really good product. And if the success of GTA Online helps them to be able to finance the development of the other projects accordingly, that's something positive from my point of view.
www.playstation.com
