Grand Theft Auto Online will feature an open world that matches Grand Theft Auto V in scale, scope, ambiance and depth, according to a new article from Game Informer.

“We’ve always wanted to create a world with the complexity of a single-player Grand Theft Auto game with the addition of real players,” Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies told the magazine. “We wanted a world where people could spend years without getting bored of playing the same content over and over. I think we’ve managed to achieve something very close to our dream.”

Although GTA Online and GTA V are both set in the imaginary city of Los Santos and share the same mechanics and mission types, the two games are separate entities. Players can create a unique character for the online mode and can access any of the three main protagonists from GTA V.

Gamers can explore the world on their own or join friends for missions and multiplayer events. The open world will be able to host 16 players concurrently, but the game features the same amount of freedom and random activity as GTA V‘s sandbox world—including “heists, missions, robberies, assaulting gang hideouts, hijacking armored vehicles, races and the litany of extracurricular activities like tennis, golf and base jumping. In all, Benzies says the game features more than 500 missions.”

At first, the world will be populated with your friends and fellow crew members, but eventually Rockstar will match you with similarly skilled players in the same part of the world.

For a better idea of how this gigantic world will come together, read Matt Bertz’s hands-on account in Game Informer.

Players who purchase Grand Theft Auto V, which hits stores Sept. 17, will receive free access to Grand Theft Auto Online, which goes live Oct. 1.