GTA Online Datamine Hints at Fan-Favourite Character’s Return

A promo screenshot for GTA 5.
Credit: Image via Mobygames.

A promo screenshot for GTA 5.
Credit: Image via Mobygames.

Since the arrival of The Contract update back in December 2021, GTA Online players have been anticipating what the game’s next big DLC could involve.

The answer, it seems, might be Michael from the game’s single-player campaign, whose movie-based shenanigans alongside Solomon Richards could be poised to follow up on Franklin’s shoulder-rubbing with Dr Dre.

This certainly seems to be a likely implication of some recent datamining done in the game, which, as reported by VG247, has uncovered a mysterious new spawn point and NPC.

GTA 5’s Michael Could Be Set to Appear in Online

Buoyed by a glut of movie references in the recent Vespucci Job Remix, dataminer rollschuh2282 has unearthed a freshly added spawn point in versions of the game on PS5 and Xbox Series X, which is situated near Record A Studios, the Dr Dre-owned recording studio added to the game in The Contract update.

The name of the ped model assigned to this spawn point, which is named ‘movie_set’, served as the first impetus of speculation that it could be connected to Michael, due to his single-player connection to Richards Majestic Productions.

Added to the speculatory fire a short time later was a discovery by Twitter user Tez2, who regularly reveals small changes made to Rockstar titles in particular.

This discovery was an NPC attached to the ‘movie_set’ scenario, who appears between the hours of 7 and 11am in-game and hangs around the spawn point area.

Reaction to Tez2’s tweets about the discoveries saw many GTA players declare themselves intrigued by the idea of a movie-centric DLC involving Michael, who is the only single-player protagonist not to make an extended cameo in GTA Online at current, with Franklin having starred in The Contract and Trevor having popped up in the Series A heist from the original heists update.

Twitter user @Altonmcla even suggested in the replies to one of the tweets that The Contract update itself could offer some more hints at Michael’s involvement, saying: “Franklin mentioned Michael during the first (Dr) Dre mission. Franklin's Secretary spoke of Trevor dropping by. So, possibly, the next contract will go to Michael and the next will go to Trevor.”

Meanwhile, some other users joked that the NPC’s position, staring at some car rims in a window, could hint that they’ll be involved in the DLC in some way.

Regardless of whether they are or not, make sure to follow us for more GTA Online updates as new content, possibly involving Michael, is released.