When Sony announced it would be holding its first PlayStation 5 gameplay event in mid-June, no one expected the event to open with the announcement thatGrand Theft Auto 5would becoming to next-gen consoles in 2021. It’s not necessarily surprising news thatGrand Theft Auto Onlinewould be playable on PS5 and Xbox Series X given its success, but the idea of Rockstar Games bringingGTA 5to a third generation of consoles and potentially reselling players the same game for a third time without any new content or features led to more questions than answers.
Luckily, Rockstar Games has since published its own statement regarding the release ofGrand Theft Auto 5on next-gen consoles, giving players a far better idea of what’s going to be on offer on the new consoles, including the standalone release ofGTA Online. While there’s still plenty of questions that need to be answered between now and the launch of the game in the second half of 2021, here’s what we can expect fromGrand Theft Auto 5on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
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What to Expect From Grand Theft Auto 5
One of the biggest takeaways from the announcement was the fact that bothGTA 5andGTA Onlinewould be coming to next-gen consoles, meaning players can expect more than just a quick port of the online portion to push microtransactions like shark cards. “The adventures of Michael, Franklin and Trevor are coming to a new generation of consoles,” said Rockstar Games in its opening sentence. The next-gen versions ofGrand Theft Auto 5will offer players the completeGTA 5single-player experience, including a range of improvements to the game’s graphics and performance over the PS4 and Xbox One.
Rockstar hasn’t provided any sort of technical specifics outside of confirming that the new versions ofGrand Theft Auto 5is going to look and play better than it does on current consoles. It’s likely there’ll be support for 4K graphics and 60FPS + gameplay, as well as ray-tracing and other new features such as cross-play as seen ingames likeDestiny 2andFortnite;however, there’s been no official word so far. Rockstar Games also hasn’t elaborated on the “Expanded and Enhanced” statement at the end of the reveal trailer, so it’s unclear whether the single-player portion of the game will be expanded with new content or onlyGTA Online.
What to Expect From Grand Theft Auto Online
When it comes toGrand Theft Auto 5’s online portion, Rockstar Games confirmed “the journey through the ever-evolving, shared world ofGTA Onlinewill continue on to the new generation.“GTA Onlinewill be available to play on both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Rockstar Games will support the new versions with more new updates than we’ve previously seen, as well as yet to be announced content that will be exclusive to the new consoles and PC - PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360 players won’t be able to access the content unless they upgrade to the new hardware.
The next big change players can expect to see fromGTA Onlineon PS5 and Xbox Series X is the fact that it will be getting its ownstandalone release on the new consoles, which is presumably where the new exclusive content will be available. Based on the way Rockstar Games worded the announcement, it appears that players may be able to access the PS4 and Xbox One versions ofGTA 5andGTA Onlinethrough backward compatibility; however, the next-gen versions will be released as separate “products,” which means that the next-gen version ofGTA Onlinewill be its own game and available for free.
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PlayStation Plus Bonuses for GTA Online
Seeing the Rockstar Games logo during a next-generation gameplay event initially led viewers to believe the developer was about toreveal the highly-anticipatedGrand Theft Auto 6.While it’s certainly disappointing that we’re not gettingGTA 6anytime soon, the decision to re-releaseGTA 5on PS5 and Xbox Series X makes sense.GTA Onlineis still incredibly successful after seven years and Rockstar isn’t going to risk players moving onto to new games once the new hardware releases. It’s safe to say that bothGTA OnlineandRed Dead Onlinestill have years of life left in them and will be supported on next-gen consoles for years to come.
Grand Theft Auto 5releases on PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2021.
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