Rockstar Ends GTA Online Support on Older Consoles
Rockstar has no intention of keeping Grand Theft Auto Online alive on older consoles. By the end of 2021, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners will be saying goodbye to GTA 5's multiplayer module (and the online features in Max Payne 3 and L.A. Noire).
Gamers may have been anticipating the announcement of Grand Theft Auto VI, but even E3 2021 didn't bring the fans any good news. Instead, Rockstar Games announced that it plans to block access to GTA Online on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The online mode of the fifth installment of GTA will run on the seventh-generation platforms until December 16. After that date, both the option to play online and track stats through Rockstar Games Social Club will disappear. This also includes L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3 on those devices - both titles will lose these features on September 16. That's also when Rockstar will block the option to purchase Shark Cash Cards on PS3 and X360.
The developers justify the decision by wanting to develop Grand Theft Auto Online on newer platforms. No one doubts that Rockstar intends to support the game for as long as possible - the revenue from sales of the required (at least for now) GTA 5 and microtransactions speak for themselves. In fact, the game is even coming to ninth-gen consoles, despite being nearly eight years old. Sadly, the end of the game's life on PS3 and X360 has long been expected, as the devs stopped releasing major updates on those platforms back in late 2015.
