Is GTA 5 cross-platform support something you’ve been wondering about lately? Since its original release in 2013, Grand Theft Auto 5 has only continued to rise in popularity. It quickly became the fastest-selling entertainment product upon its release and has sold over 155 million copies to date, easily ranking as the biggest title in the GTA franchise.
In fact, with the influx of streamers playing GTA Online and GTA RP (Roleplaying) Servers, Grand Theft Auto V has only expanded its player base and resultant acclaim.
GTA V is currently available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC. The next-gen upgrades for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S were slated to arrive in March 2022.
The presence of multiple platforms naturally begs the question of whether gamers on different platforms can interact with each other and play online through a multiplayer mode.
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GTA 5 crossplay has been a hot topic for players worldwide owing to the attractive possibilities of playing with friends and not being forced to shell out money for different hardware.
Let’s take stock of the situation and see what’s in store for proponents of cross-platform support.
GTA Offline vs GTA Online
Even without its online component, Rockstar Games has packed Grand Theft Auto 5 to the brim with unique and exhilarating content to keep players engaged for more than 45 hours.
But Grand Theft Auto Online takes the thrill of conquering Los Santos to another level by letting players team up or against friends and strangers to create unscripted moments of chaos, while also getting much more content than what’s available in the various missions of the offline campaign.
GTA Online comes bundled with GTA V and allows players to take the fun to online multiplayer lobbies.
Epic Games’ announcement of GTA 5 going free on their store for a limited period in May 2020 sent shock waves throughout the gaming community and was single-handedly responsible for bringing millions of new players into the fold.
What Is Cross-Playing/Cross-Platform?
For those of you not entirely sure how crossplay or cross-platform play works, it’s basically the ability to play a game with players on a different platform than yours.
For example, if you’re playing on a PC, cross play will allow you to log in to your Rockstar Social Club account and connect with your PlayStation or Xbox friends online and play together.
With cross-platform play, you are not bound to a specific console or PC and can freely play the game with your online friends on other devices. PC and console gamers can play with each other and aren’t limited to the community of their respective platforms.
Popular games like Call of Duty: Warzone, Rocket League, Fortnite, and Apex Legends are some of the best titles available with the crossplay feature.
Is GTA 5 Cross-Platform In 2024?
Despite the meteoric success of the game and the potential for cross play to bring even more players to the game, it still does not support cross play if you’re talking about gamers on one particular device mixing with those on other platforms.
As it stands today, Rockstar Games hasn’t made GTA V a cross-platform game. This could be due to several reasons –
- The huge effort needed to update the code in order to allow folks to play the game cross platform.
- Licensing complications not favoring a cross play release.
PS4 and Xbox One:
Players on these two consoles can’t currently play with each other due to no cross-platform compatibility, even though they are the two biggest consoles in the gaming industry.
The PS4 and Xbox One differ in terms of their architecture and have separate licensing agreements with Rockstar Games.
PS4 and PS5:
Fortunately, if you’re playing the game on your PS4, you can play with your friends on Sony’s next-gen PS5.
Rockstar is currently working on an ‘expanded and enhanced’ version of the game for the next-gen PS5.
It’s anyone’s guess whether the cross play feature will still be enabled between PS4 and PS5 for the enhanced edition. It could be possible considering whether it’s PS4 or PS5, it’s still the PlayStation console.
But then again, only time will tell.
PS4 and PC:
PC players cannot play with their PS4 counterparts currently in spite of the game being such a popular game. Sony handles the PS store on their end, while the PC version of the title is made available through Steam and Epic Games Launcher.
While players can always buy hard copies of the game from retailers like Amazon, Newegg, BestBuy and others, the fact remains the same. Due to Rockstar having different licensing agreements with multiple platforms, GTA 5 is currently not a cross-platform game.
PC and Xbox One:
Bad news again for PC and Xbox One owners. No, you can’t play with your friends on PC if you own the game on Xbox One and vice versa.
Even though Microsoft has taken huge strides in steering away from exclusives and making their flagship games available for both the Xbox consoles and PC, a cross-platform deal hasn’t yet been worked out with Rockstar Games.
Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S:
Yes, just like for PlayStation players, Xbox gamers can play with each other online, regardless of whether they own the game on Xbox One or the newer Xbox Series X and S.
Rockstar’s upgrade for the Xbox Series S/X in March 2022 brought the topic back to spotlight. Whether Series S and X players will be able to play the upgraded edition with those owning the older console remains to be seen.
Will It Be Cross-Platform In The Future?
Rockstar Games recently announced that GTA Online would be released as a standalone title in the latter part of 2021. This edition has a great chance of enabling cross platform gaming, following in the shoes of Call of Duty: Warzone.
With no major balancing issue to be taken care of and Rockstar Social Club taking care of saving your progression, there’s no reason GTA Online cannot become the next cross-platform hit by the end of 2024.
Will GTA 5 Enable Cross-Gen Progression?
When GTA V came out for PS4 and Xbox One, Rockstar allowed players to transfer their character from the previous-gen PS3 and Xbox 360 to their newer consoles.
It was a limited-time option, but it was there. We might see a similar thing worked out when the game launches for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, allowing players to port their character to the next-gen consoles.
In Conclusion
It will be exciting to see what 2024 have in store for fans of GTA V, with landmark changes coming in the form of a standalone GTA Online and an enhanced version heading for the next-gen consoles.
Cross-platform support for Grand Theft Auto V might become a very real possibility, now that the industry has started to accommodate the trend.
