The economy of San Andreas has fallen apart, probably due to all of the crime that’s going on in the state. Temperatures are sky high, gas prices have spiked to their highest price in years, retail stores have lost their supply chains, and the entire state is being baked by the unrelenting sun. What is this… real life? Nope, it’s GTA Online’s summer update, which is set to release on July 26.
The Criminal Enterprises trailer sets up a state in crisis, and big business and oil tycoons are rolling in to try to take advantage of it all. However, San Andreas is full of criminals, and so all this does is introduce big tempting targets for rascally robbers to steal from, whether that’s through high octane car chases or good old fashioned piracy.
This update gives the Executive, Biker, Nightclub Owner, and Gunrunner content that already exists in the game more content and tools, which should help revitalize some of the older content in the game that already offers perfectly cromulent gameplay loops. There will also be a new set of missions where the IAA suspect that the gas prices are due to the interference of a corrupt petrochemical empire run by the greedy Duggan family. It takes a criminal to catch a criminal, so the government decides to call in the players.
There is also a range of changes coming to other content in the game, from menu changes and increased payouts to new vehicles, collectibles, and showroom floors for car lovers. Players with an executive office will have a new staff manager named Lupe who will help them source special cargo, while motorcycle club presidents can modify choppers and sell them to discerning contacts.
This is an intriguing update because it returns to so many systems that have sat dormant in GTA Online for some time instead of going for entirely new content. It’ll be cool to catch up with old NPC friends, menace Texans, and buy some new rides. Criminal Enterprises launches on July 26 on both consoles and PC.