From the beginning, Rockstar has claimed that the Cayo Perico Heist DLC is the biggest DLC they’ve ever released in GTA Online. However, since its official release on December 15, 2020, many players have voiced their disappointment as they can’t explore Cayo Perico on Freemode.

Therefore, many players started comparing the Cayo Perico Heist DLC with other DLCs and began to question Rockstar’s claim that the Cayo Perico Heist is the biggest DLC in the history of GTA Online.

Yet, is it true that Rockstar has been overhyping the Cayo Perico Heist DLC? And, how will this DLC become the one DLC that will change GTA Online forever?

Players Can Reach Break-Even Point Quickly

For returning players looking to run the Cayo Perico Heist, the only property they need to buy is the Kosatka submarine for $2.2 million. However, for new players who yet to own a property, they’re going to pay an extra $1.5 million to purchase a Penthouse so they can access the Music Locker, which is located in the basement of the Diamond Casino.

So, the total paywall one must pay to start the Cayo Perico Heist is only $3.7 million. Of course, for most beginners, $3.7 million isn’t a small amount of money. But bear in mind that that amount of money will be covered in just three heists. Because from just a single heist, you can get around $1.3-2 million.

A while ago, my friends and I were trying to find out how much time it would take to earn $10 million from the Cayo Perico Heist. In about 8 hours, we managed to rake in $10.3 million.

Solo-Player Friendly

GTA Online has some recurring issues that often occur in heists, such as lost connection, bugs, trapped in the loading screen, and many more. Therefore, the Cayo Perico Heist, which can also be run solo, immediately becomes a game-changing new activity. Unlike other heists that require 2-4 players.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that the Cayo Perico Heist has no problems. When running heist with multiple members, those issues still happen sometimes. It’s a different case if you run these heists solo. Game-ruining bugs are almost non-existent. So, Rockstar’s decision to add a new heist that can be run solo deserves some appreciation from the players.

With the Cayo Perico Heist, GTA Online players can make as much money as possible in the shortest time possible. As I’ve mentioned above, making $10 million in just eight hours sure sounds tempting for many players.

Especially when compared to traditional businesses, take the Special Cargo, for instance, it takes 7-8 hours to fill a large warehouse, and we’ll end up getting just around $2.2 million (or $4.4 million during the Double Money Event).

Given the huge profits it offers in relatively short grinding hours, it’s no wonder that many players have started to leave their businesses and decide to grind in the Cayo Perico Heist.

Flexible and Varied Gameplay

If you run it repeatedly, the Cayo Perico Heist does feel repetitive. But keep in mind that so does every activity in GTA Online. From businesses, Casino Heists, Contact Missions, and so on.

Yet, in the Cayo Perico Heist, Rockstar offers flexible and varied gameplay. You can decide whether to go with an aggressive approach, stealth, or even pretend to be one of the guards to raid El Rubio. On top of that, your mission preps will affect the heist itself.

For example, if you decide to poison the guards by mixing detergent into the water tank, then during the heist, the Cayo Perico guards’ aiming will be terrible. There are many other things that you can choose to do in the preps. So, even if you play it multiple times, you won’t find the Cayo Perico Heist to be monotonous, especially if you choose different approaches each time.

A Major DLC With A Reasonable Size

In terms of the heists, it’s undeniable that the Cayo Perico DLC is the biggest in the history of GTA Online. For the first time, Rockstar added a huge exterior and interior map. Complete with details, complex yet very flexible heists, giving us the freedom on how we would run them.

However, aside from the heists, there isn’t much content that came to our attention. Even on the day of the release, there’s not a single new car added to Legendary Motorsport or Southern San Andreas. So, it’s fair to assume that Rockstar wants the players to focus on the activities on the newly-added island, and forget San Andreas for a while. But to be fair, Rockstar will certainly add at least one new car every week.

Even though the Cayo Perico Heist DLC can’t seem to meet the expectation of every player, at the very least, we still have to appreciate Rockstar and the devs’ effort, who still managed to bring a new DLC during the pandemic.