GTA 6 is scheduled to come out in 2025, and fans have a lot of expectations for the game. While the main story is crucial for making a game interesting, the side missions are what make it even more immersive.

Throughout the years, the side missions in Grand Theft Auto games have given players some really exciting content. Fans hope to see the best ones from all the past games return in Grand Theft Auto 6.

These might include special property management features, ways to take over territories, random interactions with non-player characters that turn into missions, and more. In this article, we’ll talk about some of the most exciting side missions from previous Grand Theft Auto games.

5 types of side missions that should return in GTA 6

1) Vigilante

Vigilante missions were really fun in Grand Theft Auto 4, but they were missing in GTA 5. Now, in GTA Online, you can buy police cars, and fans hope Rockstar adds these missions in the new game. Vigilante missions were a regular part of the 3D Universe games, and they made Grand Theft Auto 4 more interesting.

In these missions, players could use the police computer in a cop car to find wanted criminals. Then, they could chase and stop the criminals, not needing to stay in the cop car to do it.

Bringing back this system in Grand Theft Auto 6 would make cop cars more useful for players beyond just using the siren.

2) Empire Building

In Vice City Stories, Rockstar lets players do more than just collect money from their properties. The main character, Victor Vance, could attack and take over businesses owned by enemy gangs.

After taking control, these places could be used for different criminal activities like protection rackets, brothels, drug production, and smuggling.

Players could upgrade these activities by taking over bigger buildings, which would bring in more money and need better security.

Although Grand Theft Auto Online has something similar, it’s not as exciting and feels more like a chore. Rockstar should change how players manage their criminal businesses in GTA 6 to make it more fun and intense.

3) Gang Warfare

In GTA San Andreas, one special thing was gang warfare. CJ, who is part of the Grove Street Families (GSF), needs to make his gang strong again.

To do this, CJ has to fight against rival gangs and take back areas that they had taken from GSF before. Some places in Los Santos are risky to go to when the Ballas and the Vagos control them.

This idea could be used in GTA 6 to limit where players can explore at the start of the game. Rockstar could make these areas very unsafe, so players would avoid them until later in the story when there are fewer gang problems.

4) Drug Dealing

In GTA Chinatown Wars, the last game designed exclusively for handheld devices, there was a controversial but popular minigame called Drug Dealing. Fans often said it was the best part of the game.

This minigame lets players make money quickly, but the more money you make, the more risky it becomes. Any deal could be a trap, especially if it seemed too good.

The whole game was connected to this part, as you could find drugs in random places or get them as rewards for completing missions. Almost everything you did in the main story affected the market for drugs.

For example, breaking security cameras made it cheaper to buy drugs and reduced the chance of a deal being a trap. GTA 6 could easily have a similar feature, making the game more interesting as players explore the map.

5) Strangers & Freaks

In GTA 5, there were special missions called Strangers & Freaks. These were random situations where the main characters met different people and faced unique challenges.

Some of these people showed up more than once and continued their stories. This made the game world feel more alive, like in a role-playing game.

Rockstar first introduced this in GTA 4, but they made it even better in GTA 5. Fans hope that Vice City and Leonida, in GTA 6, will also have interesting characters in the Strangers & Freaks missions. The GTA 6 trailer has already shown some of the wild characters in Leonida, and fans are excited to see more.