GTA 6 Is Coming for Warzone's Crown — And a Former COD Boss Just Admitted It

When someone who spent years building Call of Duty’s multiplayer infrastructure tells you a competitor is going to cause “real trouble,” you pay attention. That’s exactly what former Sledgehammer Games Creative Director Greg Reisdorf just did — and his target? Call of Duty: Warzone.

The Warning Shot From Inside the Industry

Reisdorf, who led development on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s multiplayer and served as Creative Director at Sledgehammer until 2025, isn’t mincing words. In a recent interview with Esportsbets, he laid out a grim forecast for mature-rated free-to-play games:

“Fortnite and Roblox have a different audience, but the Warzones of the world, the free-to-play mature titles, are going to have real trouble.”

That’s not speculation from a random analyst. That’s a veteran who knows exactly how the Call of Duty machine works — warning that GTA 6 Online is positioned to do what no competitor has managed: pull Warzone’s core audience away permanently.

Why GTA 6 Online Could Be a Better Warzone Than Warzone

Here’s where it gets interesting. GTA 6 isn’t just coming to compete — it’s potentially bringing a fundamentally superior online experience to the table.

The MMORPG Evolution

Industry veteran Rich Vogel, whose resume includes Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and New World, revealed in an exclusive Wccftech interview that he’s been hearing things about GTA 6’s online mode that sound suspiciously like an MMORPG:

“If what I have been hearing about GTA 6’s features and gameplay is true, it could evolve into an MMORPG, as many of its planned features are typically found in MMORPGs.”

This isn’t coming from nowhere. Rockstar acquired Cfx.re (the team behind FiveM) back in August 2023. FiveM is the community-driven GTA 5 mod that introduced:

• Dedicated servers with persistent economies
• Higher player counts per session (up to 200 players on popular servers)
• Deep role-playing mechanics (police officers, paramedics, taxi drivers, business owners)
• A persistent world that evolves based on player actions

At its peak, FiveM’s player count actually surpassed the official GTA Online on Steam. Twitch’s CEO Dan Clancy confirmed GTA 5 was the most-watched game on the platform in 2024 — largely thanks to RP content, with viewers spending 1.4 billion hours watching GTA 5 RP streams.

Rockstar didn’t buy Cfx.re for fun. They bought it to build something bigger.

What Warzone Can’t Offer

Think about what draws people to Warzone: squad-based combat, progression systems, regular content updates, and that dopamine hit of victory.

Now imagine GTA 6 Online delivering:

• Combat with the same adrenaline — but in a living, breathing world where you can do literally anything else afterward
• Heists that function like high-stakes raids (but actually reward coordination and skill, not just loadout meta)
• Career paths where you’re not just grinding battle passes — you’re building a criminal empire or going legit
• 64-player servers at launch, with leaks suggesting Rockstar is pushing toward 96-player lobbies
• A persistent world where your actions have consequences beyond a match result

Warzone gives you a map. GTA 6 Online might give you a life.

The Numbers Tell the Story

Investment firm Konvoy is projecting GTA 6 will generate $7.6 billion in revenue within 60 days of launch. That’s not a typo. Breakdown:

• Day One: 25 million copies sold, $2 billion in revenue
• Week One: 40 million copies
• 60 Days: 85 million copies

For context, GTA 5 sold 11.21 million copies in its first 24 hours back in 2013. GTA 6 is projected to more than double that.

Former Rockstar animator Mike York expects “astronomical” first-week sales, potentially hitting $3 billion. Analyst Joost van Dreunen projects $2.7 billion at launch.

Either way, we’re talking about numbers that dwarf anything in gaming history.

The Audience Overlap Problem

Reisdorf specifically called out mature-rated free-to-play games — and there’s a reason. The Venn diagram between Warzone players and GTA enthusiasts is practically a circle.

Both audiences want:

• Competitive multiplayer with high stakes
• Mature themes and content
• Regular updates and live-service elements
• The ability to squad up with friends
• Progression systems that reward time investment

The difference? GTA 6 Online will likely offer all of that plus a single-player campaign, plus an open world, plus role-playing mechanics, plus user-generated content (reports suggest Rockstar is building something similar to Fortnite’s creator economy).

Warzone offers battle royale. GTA 6 Online might offer everything.

The UGC Threat

This might be the real killer. Digiday reported that Rockstar has been in discussions with top Roblox and Fortnite creators about making custom experiences in GTA 6.

Konvoy’s analysis predicts GTA 6 could launch a user-generated content platform that:

• Allows players to create and sell their own virtual content
• Pays out creators for their work
• Creates endless content beyond what Rockstar develops internally

If GTA 6 becomes a platform rather than just a game, Warzone isn’t competing with a game anymore — it’s competing with an ecosystem.

The Bottom Line

Greg Reisdorf isn’t the only one sounding the alarm. The entire industry is bracing for impact.

GTA 6 Online isn’t coming to be another option alongside Warzone. Based on what former developers, industry veterans, and analysts are saying, Rockstar is building something designed to absorb the entire mature multiplayer audience.

Persistent world. MMORPG elements. FiveM-style role-playing. User-generated content. Potentially 96-player lobbies. A living, breathing Vice City where the match never ends.

Warzone is a game you play. GTA 6 Online might be a world you live in.

And when that door opens on November 19, 2026, a lot of players aren’t coming back.