Rockstar Games has announced that it’s giving away free upgrades for Grand Theft Auto 5 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S beginning this week. Back in 2022, Rockstar ported over GTA 5 to modern platforms along with a handful of new optimizations and improvements. Unfortunately, these next-gen editions of the game weren’t made available for free to those who already owned GTA 5 on PS4 and Xbox One, much to the dismay of fans. Now, with Grand Theft Auto 6 just around the corner, Rockstar has opted to reverse course on this decision.
In a new post on its website today, Rockstar revealed that it will allow Grand Theft Auto 5 players on PS4 and Xbox One to upgrade to the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of the title at no cost beginning on June 18th. This move is one that Rockstar says it’s making prior to The Kortz Center Heist becoming available in GTA Online in July. It’s also a decision that will seemingly impact GTA 5 forever, as this isn’t a limited-time promotion that Rockstar is choosing to push out.
When it comes to what the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of GTA 5 offer, they’re pretty similar to those on last-gen platforms. The biggest improvement that Rockstar has made to the game is in relation to its performance, which is considerably better on current-gen hardware. There are also a handful of smaller features related to GTA Online that are exclusive to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S as well.
It’s also worth noting that if you haven’t made this upgrade yet for yourself, all of your progress from GTA 5’s story mode and GTA Online will be able to seamlessly transfer over to the improved versions of the game. So if you happen to own one of these consoles but have still been playing the last-gen edition of GTA 5 for some reason, there’s no reason not to upgrade.
Although Rockstar Games didn’t state as much, it’s also apparent that this decision is being made prior to Grand Theft Auto 6’s arrival in November. Once the latest GTA installment launches, active users for GTA 5 will surely plummet, which will finally end its run of dominance that has lasted for over a decade. As such, there’s really no harm in Rockstar now offering GTA 5 upgrades at no cost to players, as it will undoubtedly rake in countless millions of sales later this year with GTA 6.
Again, if you’re looking to upgrade your own copy of GTA 5, you can do so starting tomorrow. As for GTA 6, the long-awaited entry in the series will finally release on November 19th.
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