Summary

  • GTA Online, released in 2013, lacks cross-play support. Rockstar Games has not given a clear reason for this, but it is likely due to the challenges of implementing cross-play between PC and console platforms.
  • Rockstar Games may have no interest in cross-play for GTA Online because the game is already successful without it. From a business standpoint, investing time and money to balance the game for cross-play may not be worth it.
  • GTA Online's PC version supporting mods likely complicates the implementation of cross-play with consoles, which do not have mod support.

First releasing in 2013, Grand Theft Auto Online has become hugely popular within the GTA fandom, but its lack of cross-play has long frustrated players wishing to team up with their friends on other platforms. GTA Online has seen its fair share of changes since its initial launch, continually evolving over the course of nearly a decade. The game still receives regular updates in 2023, with the most recent, San Andreas Mercenaries, arriving in June. Although Rockstar Games has never officially given a reason, there's most likely a good explanation for why cross-play features don't exist in GTA Online.

Currently, GTA Online is available on PC and three generations of Xbox and PlayStation consoles, most recently releasing on the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. However, cross-play isn't supported between any platforms at this time, and it probably won't happen anytime soon - if ever. It's unclear why Rockstar Games didn't initially support cross-play for GTA Online. In 2013, when the game first released, cross-play features were far less common, but not completely unheard of. Since then, however, Rockstar Games has developed a reputation for not supporting cross-play.

Related: GTA 6 Leaks: Why GTA Online 2 Is Already A Bad Idea

GTA Online Mods Get In The Way Of Cross-Play

A player with a pistol running from an exploding motel in GTA Online.

In the time since its release, there have been countless mods implemented into GTA Online for PC. These mods range from the simple to the elaborate, but they mostly serve to make the experience more enjoyable. However, because of this, it would be hard to support cross-play between PC and other platforms. There would have to be modded and vanilla servers, and it's unclear if alterations made to the PC version would even be available to console players. Seven years in with GTA Online, and cross-play is probably just too big of a headache for Rockstar Games to try now.

Rockstar Doesn't Seem To Have Much Interest In Cross-Play

Arthur Morgan riding a horse in Red Dead Redemption 2 Online Mode

GTA Online has been successful for Rockstar Games, so the lack of cross-play doesn't appear to have hurt its popularity. From a business standpoint, it doesn't make sense for Rockstar to invest time and money balancing the game for cross-play across all of GTA Online's platforms when the game is already incredibly successful without such a feature. Even though a lot of fans would like to see cross-play supported, it's probably just not worth the time and effort for Rockstar, at least for now.

More recently, Red Dead Online didn't support cross-play despite swirling rumors and requests from fans. Rockstar Games announced the end of updates for Red Dead Online in 2022, signaling the end of any crossplay potential for the title. The continuing regular updates for GTA Online mean that it's not impossible that a cross-play feature could be incorporated someday, although it seems unlikely for now. A potential successor to GTA Online that could come attached to GTA 6 might be fans' best hope for cross-play in Grand Theft Auto Online, but it's likely best not to wait with bated breath.