Rockstar & TT have lost their minds, now offering a $5/pm subscription service for GTA V next gen

[Master Disaster]

I'm not surprised by this at all, coming from the company that sold players something that's almost 10 years old for almost pull price on next gen systems while the rest of the industry was giving away free upgrades to games that were a few weeks old this makes total sense.

 

Yep, R* & TT have announced GTA+, the GTAO subscription service. Why does it need to exist? Who the fuck knows. Game is 9 years old and has had 4 different releases across 7 different platforms but evidently R* are still not happy with the literal billions this cash cow has already given them. Why not try to tie new players in for the long term as well (because yeah, its only available for PS5/XBSS/X, no mention of PC and lat gen is off the table).

Quote

GTA+ is a new membership program exclusively for GTA Online on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S — launching on March 29 and providing easy access to a range of valuable benefits for both new and long-standing players on the latest generation consoles.

And what do you get for your $5 per month?

Quote

Here’s a breakdown of the benefits GTA+ Members will receive in the first month of Membership (March 29–April 27):

• GTA$500,000 delivered automatically to your Maze Bank Account.

• The Principe Deveste Eight — along with a complimentary Hao’s Special Works upgrade for it before it is made available to purchase by the general public — plus the HSW Orange Trip and HSW CMYK Glitch Liveries.

• The Auto Shop located in La Mesa, introduces an assortment of gameplay updates from Los Santos Tuners. Current Auto Shop owners can relocate to La Mesa at no additional cost.

• Waived LS Car Meet Membership fees. Current LS Car Meet members with GTA+ will be reimbursed GTA$50,000 during this event period.

• Yacht owners can upgrade to the Aquarius Super Yacht at no additional cost.

• The Gussét Frog Tee and Broker Prolaps Basketball Top and Shorts automatically added to your wardrobe.

• The Conveyor Livery for the Mammoth Avenger, HVY APC, and TM-02 Khanjali.

• A selection of free paints and emblems for the Auto Shop.

• 3X GTA$ and RP on Hao’s Special Works Race Series.

• 2X Car Meet Rep on the Street Race Series.

Oh, lets not forget the extra money for purchased shark cards

Quote

GTA+ Members can also take advantage of special GTA+ Shark Cards that provide extra bonus cash from the PlayStation Store on the PS5 or Microsoft Store.

As you can imagine, the gaming community has given R* a giant middle finger on social media, go seek it out, some really funny tweets

 

Source - https://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/ak748a241k42kk/introducing-gta-for-gta-online

 

Oh how the mighty have fallen. I hope this isn't against ToS but I feel the need to say this without toning it down

 

If you buy this shit then you are a part of the problem and an idiot.

[Arika]

obligatory:

[lieder1987]

18 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

If you buy this shit then you are a part of the problem and an idiot

Its a little harsh to be calling people idiots just because they don't agree with you. Just don't buy it.

 

[Spotty]

Quote

*To purchase a GTA+ Membership, you must have a copy of Grand Theft Auto V or Grand Theft Auto Online, and a platform account with a valid registered method of payment for the platform on which you choose to purchase your GTA+ Membership.

Doesn't even include the base game for $5.99/month, It's really just a monthly subscription to DLC/microtransactions. That's pretty underwhelming. It could have been semi-interesting if they at least made it a monthly subscription service to get access to play Rockstar's recent titles (RDR2, GTA remakes, LA Noire, Max Payne 3, etc) like Xbox Game Pass, EA Play, Ubisoft+.

Edited March 26, 2022 by Spotty

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, lieder1987 said:

Its a little harsh to be calling people idiots just because they don't agree with you. Just don't buy it.

 

I know, I know, I know. Still I stand on that hill and will die on it. There is absolutely no reason as to why anybody could think this is a good deal. You have to pay for it on top of the base game and get nothing for it. Half a mill in game credits will buy you ammo for a few rounds, the exclusions only apply if you use those in game mechanics and nothing you get is exclusive or limited in any way.

[porina]

Think there is some big confusion going on here.

 

GTAV the standalone game, as far as I can tell, is not available on PS5. At least, I can't find it in the store when I looked a moment ago.

 

GTA Online is FREE on PS5. The sub service is an optional bonus on top of that, as is common with many other "free" games.

 

As far as I'm concerned they're two separate games, even if they're based on the same underlying game world.

[Master Disaster]

4 minutes ago, porina said:

Think there is some big confusion going on here.

 

GTAV the standalone game, as far as I can tell, is not available on PS5. At least, I can't find it in the store when I looked a moment ago.

 

GTA Online is FREE on PS5. The sub service is an optional bonus on top of that, as is common with many other "free" games.

 

As far as I'm concerned they're two separate games, even if they're based on the same underlying game world.

Nah, I looked a bit deeper and this is not the case. GTAV is $40 on all next gen platforms (including the campaign and online), they released GTAO for free on PS5 only and for three months only. After that it goes back up to $40. Perhaps they aren't selling the base game while GTAO is free?

[Spotty]

11 minutes ago, porina said:

GTAV the standalone game, as far as I can tell, is not available on PS5. At least, I can't find it in the store when I looked a moment ago.

 

GTA Online is FREE on PS5. The sub service is an optional bonus on top of that, as is common with many other "free" games.

GTAV & GTA Online just released for the PS5 last week. But you are right that for the PS5/Xbox Series release they split Online in to a standalone title.

 

Their announcement releasing the game, and pricing for Online:

Quote

GTA Online Now Available as a Standalone Title

For the first time, GTA Online is also now available as a standalone title for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. It is available for free exclusively on PS5 through June 14, 2022, and at a discounted price for Xbox Series X|S players through June 14, 2022.

 

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/grand-theft-auto-v/

(It says it's available for PS5 and clicking Buy Now takes you to a section saying to buy it on the PS5 store, I'm assuming it's available on the PS5 store but I don't have a PS5 to check)

 

GTA Online is free for a limited time for PS5 users with a PS Plus subscription. From the playstation link above:

Quote

Limited time offer

Get GTA Online free on PlayStation 5*

GTA Online is available to download for free* exclusively for PS5 owners from March 15, 2022 until June 14, 2022.
*Offer available until 14 June 2022. Download from PS5 console store. PS Plus required to play (recurring fees apply).

 

On Xbox it's on sale for $10 until 14th June 2022

https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/grand-theft-auto-online/9nkc1z4z92vn

 

 

GTA Online is only free for a limited time on Playstation if you have a PS Plus subscription (so not really free, just included with PS Plus?)

Edited March 26, 2022 by Spotty

[porina]

4 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Nah, I looked a bit deeper and this is not the case. GTAV is $40 on all next gen platforms (including the campaign and online), they released GTAO for free on PS5 only and for three months only. After that it goes back up to $40. Perhaps they aren't selling the base game while GTAO is free?

I stand corrected on that, GTAO is only free on PS5 to mid June. Also not finding what they call "story mode" in store may be due to the navigation on it.

[porina]

18 minutes ago, Spotty said:

GTA Online is free for a limited time for PS5 users with a PS Plus subscription. From the playstation link above:

 

GTA Online is only free for a limited time on Playstation if you have a PS Plus subscription (so not really free, just included with PS Plus?)

I don't have PS+ and it offers me the GTAO download. To my understanding, GTAO is not tied to having PS+ to obtain it. However, PS+ is required for online play, making it kinda required if you want to do anything with GTAO. In a similar way there's nothing stopping you from buying a PS5 game, but it is not going to be as much use if you don't have a PS5.

 

It's probably for a different thread, but I'm not a fan of the sub required for online play on PS and Switch. I'm not heavy into consoles so it is a hard sell to me, regardless if they try to offer other "benefits" along with it.

[Spotty]

15 minutes ago, porina said:

I don't have PS+ and it offers me the GTAO download. To my understanding, GTAO is not tied to having PS+ to obtain it. However, PS+ is required for online play, making it kinda required if you want to do anything with GTAO. In a similar way there's nothing stopping you from buying a PS5 game, but it is not going to be as much use if you don't have a PS5.

 

It's probably for a different thread, but I'm not a fan of the sub required for online play on PS and Switch. I'm not heavy into consoles so it is a hard sell to me, regardless if they try to offer other "benefits" along with it.

Gotcha, you don't need PS+ to get it but to be able to play it since it's online only content you need PS+, that makes sense. I was thinking PS+ was more like how Xbox game pass will include some games each month. I haven't had a console since the PS2 so I'm very out of touch with consoles. I only had access to dial-up internet when the PS3 and PS4 came out and since they required an internet connection there wasn't any point buying what would have been expensive paper weights.

[mapegl]

Well I was afraid that companies would try to get to something like this for their main titles. 

I hope this will fantastically blow up in their faces and companies won't try to force subscription-only titles down our throats. Because that is what I feel like they want to do. 

I am happy to pay for a full game like I just did for Elden Ring and I get the 50$ price tag and I would also happily pay for add-ons with more actual content.

 

Microtransactions, especially for cosmetics, seems to me to be the biggest scam ever and now you can even pay monthly to look even weirder than before in a game where everyone is cheating anyways. And don't tell me that they are giving you actual content with that subscription. Well sure, some cars, whatever, that stuff is meaningless. They have been continuously adding more content making old stuff bad or even obsolete, thus making things you bought with real money absolutely pointless to make you buy more.  In addition to that, you pay for new ways to make more in-game, just to find out that it is slightly less of a grind, but still a darn grind...

 

Ah this game...makes me mad...and now it is even worse. 

 

Also, please kids, stop buying skins for guns and such...make the developers actually work and provide you with something of value and then give them your cash. Because what I am really afraid off is that they might just lower the price, get through with it and it becomes the new model for games. 

 

[Doobeedoo]

Oof. Subscriptions...nope.

[Not_A_Spider]

Hot take: I'm good with this. Rockstar makes good games and GTA online helps whales fund them. It's not like a freemium game where they're selling guns or characters, 99% of it is cars anyways.

 

We can also extrapolate that GTA online is probably losing players now and is in decline.

[Avocado Diaboli]

16 minutes ago, Not_A_Spider said:

GTA online helps whales fund them

Because the entire concept of people spending all their money on games designed to take advantage of their psychology is unequivocally a good thing, right? I mean, that's what you're advocating for, "whales" funding Rockstar.

[poochyena]

I'm more surprised by lack of mention of NFTs.

[Spotty]

Just now, poochyena said:

I'm more surprised by lack of mention of NFTs.

Shh, don't give them ideas

[Not_A_Spider]

22 minutes ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

Because the entire concept of people spending all their money on games designed to take advantage of their psychology is unequivocally a good thing, right? I mean, that's what you're advocating for, "whales" funding Rockstar.

 

No, GTA online isn't one of those shitter lootbox gacha games. You know exactly what you're getting when you put money into it.

[AndreiArgeanu]

When you didn't think Rockstar could stoop any lower.

 

The trilogy was a garbage demaster that rather than remastering themselves Rockstar decided to pass on to Grove Street Games(previously known as wardrum studios) who have a spotty history when it comes to remastering/remaking games, then when the shit hit the fan when they released the game they try and claim innocence as if no one at Rockstar tested or played the game before release and pass the blame on to GSG. Not to even mention the lawsuits against the modding community out of fear because the mods they made for Rockstar's 18 year old games make those games much better than the "Definitive" edition they were releasing.

 

Then they release "Expanded" and "Enhanced" version of GTA 5 where the only thing they've done in 6 months since the trailed was crank the visual settings higher to match pc Very High/Ultra and changed the smoke oh and caked on a bunch of motion blur because everyone loves motion blur you can't disable.

And now a subscription model for their shitty remaster because they haven't quite squeezed yet every single penny they can with this re release.

 

Given their track record for the past 8-9 years Rockstar has become extremely lazy and I have absolutely no trust in them releasing a decent game or remaster. Rockstar hasn't gotten any money from me in years and will continue not to. However, unfortunately this has no effect on them because there just seems that people would rather eat up the low effort releases they put out and buy many more sharkcards meaning that Rockstar doesn't have any reason to change or listen to it's audience for as long as they're still raking in these massive amounts of money.

 

Edit: And the lack of competition in the market for the type of games rockstar is making also means that their reign won't be over anytime soon

[poochyena]

23 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

Edit: And the lack of competition in the market for the type of games rockstar is making also means that their reign won't be over anytime soon

...really? Open world shooter games are **THE** genre right now that every major game is doing.

[AndreiArgeanu]

6 minutes ago, poochyena said:

...really? Open world shooter games are **THE** genre right now that every major game is doing.

Yet none of them are like GTA games which is the primary reason why Rockstar can put out garbage like that and still sell well. Closes thing is Saints Row

[Master Disaster]

59 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

Given their track record for the past 8-9 years Rockstar has become extremely lazy and I have absolutely no trust in them releasing a decent game or remaster. Rockstar hasn't gotten any money from me in years and will continue not to. However, unfortunately this has no effect on them because there just seems that people would rather eat up the low effort releases they put out and buy many more sharkcards meaning that Rockstar doesn't have any reason to change or listen to it's audience for as long as they're still raking in these massive amounts of money.

The Rockstar that made GTA V is dead. First they sacked Leslie Benzies who had written most, and directed all of, every GTA game since GTA3 (not sure about the spinoffs from R* Leeds, I'd doubt it though) plus was heavily involved in pretty much all main studio R* games fullstop. To be absolutely clear how important he was to R*, he was Rockstar. Him & Lazlow wrote & directed everything between them, they were the creative minds behind GTA, RDR, Bully, Manhunt etc etc.

 

Then R* got hit with the crunch & workplace culture bombshell which caused Laslow to also quit.

 

Finally Dan Houser left, again GTA was his baby. He was the one at the offices with the developers. His brother Sam mostly resides in the corporate offices in the USA. Despite being a co owner of the entire company, he was known for being at every meeting, being active in the creative aspects and having a hands on approach to the games.

 

Now we have a shell of the former industry leaders, all the big names are gone and the only thing they have left is a 9 year old GTA game and a proprietary engine that will make finding new developers just that extra bit harder.

 

Edit - And Take Two taking more and more control away from them

[Avocado Diaboli]

2 hours ago, Not_A_Spider said:

 

No, GTA online isn't one of those shitter lootbox gacha games. You know exactly what you're getting when you put money into it.

I fail to see how that meaningfully changes the fact that the game still employs psychological tricks in order to facilitate whales financing it. Just because a game doesn't employ lootboxes doesn't make its design otherwise unobjectionable. You yourself called the people buying this stuff "whales", so you on some level understand the mechanics at play.

[Vishera]

I have been boycotting Rockstar ever since they ruined Max Payne 3 and older titles with the Rockstar launcher update.

They won't get a dime from me,they are on my black list.

[Jito463]

57 minutes ago, Vishera said:

I have been boycotting Rockstar ever since they ruined Max Payne 3

My issue isn't even with the launcher, the game itself was woefully pitiful compared to the first two games.  It was littered through with far too many QTE's and forced cutscenes.  Yes, the first two games had the comic strip cut scenes, but you could skip through them and they were at least unique.  MP3 was just pure garbage.