GTA Online Update 'Confirms' GTA IV Expansion

Nine years after GTA Online first broke free from the shackles of Grand Theft Auto V to become its own beast, it's hard to believe Rockstar Games is still raking in the dollars with this online version of San Andreas. Proving there's still plenty of potential, those rumours of a GTA IV expansion are back with a vengeance. 

There's been a lot going on with GTA and GTA Online these days, and after we revisited the story of GTA V's Franklin - with a little help from Dr. Dre - for The Contracts DLC, it sounds like we're going back even further to see what Niko Bellic has been up to since we left him in 2008.

Is GTA Online Getting A GTA IV Expansion?

Last month, we wrote about how a Liberty City expansion could be coming to GTA Online. There wasn't much to it apart from the usual titbits from so-called insiders. Now though, someone has discovered an actual Easter egg that all but confirms Liberty City is about to expand the map more than ever before.

Just days ago, YouTubers Mr. Faucheurr and GamingBGK spotted a nod to the lauded title when visiting the Opium Nights Hotel. To find the Easter egg, you need to head to the hotel at night. It's located at Greenwich Parkway and Exceptionalists Way in the LSIA district. When you step up to the entrance, you'll see the Liberty City skyline reflected in the right-most pane of the glass door.

For anyone who's ever played through Niko's story, you'll instantly recognise the skyline for Liberty City - which itself is a parody of New York City. The egg has been found in both the Xbox One and PS4 versions of GTA Online, however, can't be found in the new-gen releases. Hmm, how peculiar. If it's in the last-gen versions, it at least suggests Rockstar has been planning a GTA IV expansion for a while.

Will We Get A GTA IV Remaster?

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Despite Liberty City's cult status among GTA fandom, it was left behind in 2009's The Ballad of Gay Tony DLC. A sneaky nod in GTA V alluded to Niko's post-GTA IV future, and just like we picked up Franklin's story in The Contracts, we imagine a GTA IV expansion for Online would follow a similar route. Will we get another A-list cameo on a par with Dr. Dre? 

You might also remember that Grove Street Games' maligned GTA Trilogy also hinted at revisiting Liberty City. This time though, an Easter egg mentioned Francis International Airport that appeared in GTA IV. Given that pretty much every other game has had some love and attention, GTA IV is well overdue. Picture the scene where we get a Liberty City expansion for Online AND Rockstar announces a new-gen remake. We can only dream.