We’ve discovered that Grand Theft Auto 5 will go away the Xbox Game Pass catalog on April 15 alongside other games like Ashen, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery. GTA 5’s removing is probably the most frustrating, not simply due to the sport’s pedigree, however due to how typically it and different titles from Rockstar Games come to and go away online game subscription companies.
GTA 5 has cycled on and off Xbox Game Pass a number of instances over the previous six years. There are Xbox Wire articles from 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2025 proudly saying that the sport is coming to the service, solely to go away after three to 6 months. GTA 5’s present stint of Xbox Game Pass availability is its longest, because it has been a part of the catalog since April 2025. The recreation is equally on-again, off-again with PS Plus Extra, as GTA 5 has come and gone from Sony’s subscription service at totally different instances in 2023, (*5*), and 2025.
Although it isn’t unusual for video games to return and go on every of the most important gaming subscription companies, no single recreation has performed it as incessantly as GTA 5. The frequency of its addition and removing from the service speaks to simply how malleable the catalogs of Xbox Game Pass and PS Extra are.
While Xbox and PlayStation have extra management over the provision of their respective first-party video games on their subscription companies, they cannot assure the identical consistency for third-party video games. In the case of a recreation as profitable as GTA 5, Rockstar Games additionally has extra leverage. Microsoft and Sony need the sport to be on their companies greater than Rockstar Games wants GTA 5 on Game Pass or PS Plus Extra.
Ultimately, the inconsistency with which GTA 5 is on these subscription companies makes it robust to suggest the sport whereas it’s a part of these catalogs. You’re higher off shopping for GTA 5 outright if you wish to play it reasonably than counting on its availability by way of subscription. The similar goes for different titles from Rockstar Games that come to Xbox Game Pass or PS Plus Extra, like Red Dead Redemption 2.
