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GTA 5 cross-platform support: Everything we know

Jacob Roach
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Grand Theft Auto 5 is the longest-running game in the series. Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design) has maintained a consistent development cadence for the series since its inception, but with next-gen consoles on the horizon, we still haven’t heard anything about the sixth entry. GTA 5 is here to stay, with next-gen versions of the game launching soon.

Cross-platform support was an issue when Rockstar brought GTA 5 from Xbox 360 and PS3 to current generation consoles. Now, with games like Minecraft and Rocket League popularizing cross-platform play, hopefully Rockstar will add some sort of multi-system integration. Here’s everything we know about GTA 5 cross-platform support.

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Further reading

Is GTA 5 cross-platform?

GTA Online Los Santos Summer Special
Image used with permission by copyright holder

No, GTA 5 is not cross-platform. Despite Rockstar releasing several versions of the game across various storefronts and systems, you can only play GTA 5 with other players on the same system as you. The same is true for GTA Online. Although we’re generally hopeful for crossplay in games — the case for Fall Guys — it probably won’t come to GTA 5 in the future.

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On PC alone, GTA 5 is available on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Rockstar’s own Social Club launcher. On consoles, there are versions for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360, with confirmed updates coming to Xbox Series X and PS5. That, along with the fact that GTA 5 released seven years ago and still doesn’t have cross-platform support, suggests that Rockstar is more interested in selling copies of the game across systems rather than allowing players to play together with the copy they already have.

With availability on so many platforms, it would seem that Rockstar is unnecessarily splitting its player base. GTA 5 is one of the bestselling games of all time, though, taking a backseat only to Minecraft and Tetris. There are plenty of players keeping the servers full across all platforms. Epic shows that crossplay is possible at scale with Fortnite and Dauntless, so there isn’t a technical reason that we’re aware of holding GTA 5 back (Epic Online Services, which uses the same crossplay system as Fortnite, is free for nearly every platform). Rockstar’s indifference of the matter makes things clear: We probably won’t ever see cross-platform support in GTA 5. 

Bad news for cross-save and cross-progression

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Cross-progression is where things get interesting, at least for GTA Online. When Rockstar made the jump to PS4 and Xbox One in 2014, it supported limited cross-progression functionality. PS3 and Xbox 360 players could transfer their GTA Online character to PS4, Xbox One, or PC. It was only a one-time transfer, though, and Rockstar ended support for transfers in 2017.

That doesn’t matter much now, three years later, but GTA 5 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X. Rockstar hasn’t confirmed any sort of transfer program, but we’ll likely see a repeat of 2014: A one-time transfer of your character to the next gen.

There’s an argument that full cross-save and crossplay may not be possible with some of the exclusive content, but Activision is handling that issue well with Call of Duty: Warzone. Perhaps with Warzone’s recent success and Apex Legends crawling its way into the mainstream, we’ll see full cross-progression come to GTA 5. It isn’t likely, though. GTA 5 continues to boast record sales, despite being seven years old.

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Jacob Roach
Jacob Roach
Senior Staff Writer, Computing
Jacob Roach is a writer covering computing and gaming at Digital Trends. After realizing Crysis wouldn't run on a laptop, he…
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