Ever since Sony first revealed the PlayStation 5 at itsFuture of Gaming Showin June 2020, some fans have thought thatGrand Theft Auto Onlinewas coming as a free PS Plus game. However, the language surrounding the situation has been confusing, making it unclear ifGTA Onlineis actually going to be a PS Plus freebie or if the promotion is something completely different. Game Rant reached out to Rockstar Games for clarification on the matter, but did not receive a response by press time.
The confusion surroundingGrand Theft Auto Onlinebeing a potential bonus free PS Plus game for March 2022 started at PlayStation’s Future of Gaming Show. The event kicked off with the confirmation thatGrand Theft Auto 5was coming to PlayStation 5, and that it was bringing itsGTA Onlinemultiplayer componentwith it as a standalone release. Following the trailer, a graphic appeared on-screen showing a DualSense controller with the words “PS5 OWNERS WILL GET GTA ONLINE FREE AT LAUNCH IN 2021” with the PlayStation Plus logo attached and a note that it requires PS Plus to play.
The inclusion of the PS Plus logo seems to be what’s causing the confusion, as many took this to mean thatGTA Onlinewould be one of the free PS Plus gameswhen it released on PS5. It’s an understandable assumption to make, though the bit that it “requires PS Plus to play” suggests that the logo was just there to clue fans in that they will need a PS Plus subscription to play the game since it’s online-only. Since a PS Plus subscription is required to playGTA Online, one could argue that it still counts as a PS Plus bonus regardless.
In any case, the text that PS5 owners will “get"GTA Onlinefor free at launchalso led some to assume that they would get to keep the game once it launched on March 15. So even if one wasn’t confused by the use of the PS Plus logo, PS5 gamers can be forgiven for assuming that they will get to permanently addGrand Theft Auto Onlineto their digital libraries given the language used in the initial announcement, but that’s not necessarily the case either.
On February 4, Rockstar Games published a new blog post to detail the next-gen version ofGrand Theft Auto 5as well as finally confirm thatGTA 6is in development. The blog post included a blurb about the PS5 version ofGTA Online, where Rockstar said that the game will be “available for free for the first three months to PlayStation 5 players.” This can be taken a couple of different ways. It could mean that PS5 gamers have a three-month window to claimGTA Online, but it could also mean that the game will only be free for three months after it launches, at which point it will need to be purchased.
SinceGTA Onlinewasn’t mentioned when Sony revealed the free PS Plus games for March 2022, it seems that aPS Plus subscriptionmay not be necessary to claim or download the game, but one will be required to actually play it. And since it wasn’t part of the free PS Plus games for March 2022 announcement, it’s also quite possible that the game will only be free for a limited time, not free for PS5 gamers to keep. Considering the confusing and potentially misleading way this was announced, it’s understandable that some PS5 gamers may be frustrated by the situation.
