GTA Online Contracts DLC Confusingly Brings CJ Into The HD Universe

A newly-discovered reference in Grand Theft Online‘s The Contract DLC could possibly hint at the existence of CJ from San Andreas in the HD universe. GTA Online‘s newest content expansion The Contract released earlier this week and is one of the biggest post-launch updates players have seen from Rockstar Games so far. The new update features the return of Grand Theft Auto V‘s Franklin Clinton, Chop the dog, and Lamar, and includes new exclusive music from Dr. Dre, a new radio station, weapons, quality of life updates, as well as new missions to give insight into the returning characters.

Despite sharing a multiverse, each entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is a self-contained adventure with a separate narrative, and it’s rare for characters to appear in more than one installment and overlap other universes. Rockstar previously acknowledged that all of the games in the series so far are divided into three distinct GTA universes completely separate from each other, so that no physically appearing characters or storylines would overlap. While the universes are designed as separate entities, occasional references to previous universes, with some place names, businesses, and background characters are present, with the exception of main protagonists and main events crossing over. This is why Ken Rosenberg is seen in San Andreas, Packie returns in Grand Theft Auto V to help with heists, and why CJ or the rest of the Grove Street Gang is non-existent in the latest entry.

In a confusingly overlapping discovery, players on the GTA Forums have found a reference in GTA Online‘s The Contract DLC that could possibly hint at the existence of CJ in the HD universe, and previous events from San Andreas. During the mission “Fire It Up,” a part of the Short Trip set of new GTA Online co-op missions where players control Franklin and Lamar, Franklin tells Lamar about the time when CJ burned down The Truth’s cannabis farm by mentioning Flint County and what previously happened “back in the day.” This event takes place during the mission “Are You Going to San Fierro?” in San Andreas where CJ is tasked with burning down The Truth’s weed farm with a flamethrower as the cops arrive, before subsequently leaving via a van and arriving at San Fierro.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is considered one of the greatest games of all time and memorable characters such as CJ have kept the classic PS2-era title a classic. Although the GTA universes do not overlap each other, fans have theorized about the return of CJ for years and many believed the favorable protagonist would receive his own DLC in Grand Theft Auto V. GTA‘s Franklin and CJ actors are cousins in real life, so many believed that the likeliness was substantially high, and the return of Franklin could still hint at that possibility if previous comments on how the multiverse works are retconned by Rockstar Games.

With the divided universes, it’s unlikely that CJ will ever return despite being mentioned in the new update. Grand Theft Auto V‘s Franklin returning years later to make a reference about San Andreas is, however, a strange reference which contradicts Rockstar’s previous statement about its distinctive universes. A different version of CJ and the Grove Street Gang could return for GTA Online to hold off players until the next installment, but as the new GTA Online content has already revealed the fate of GTA 5‘s Michael, anything is seemingly possible.

Grand Theft Auto Online is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Source: GTA Forums

About The Author

Samed Kadirogullari
(281 Articles Published)

Sam is a narrative designer and writer from Florida. Having studied game design and comms, he loves to keep up with industry news, work on indie projects and talk about retro gaming. You can follow him on Twitter @scriptslash

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