In an unexpected move, Rockstar Games—the studio behind Grand Theft Auto—will give GTA 5 players on PS4 or Xbox One a free upgrade to GTA 5 on PS5 or Xbox Series X/S.
The deal is available to anyone who owns a PS4 edition of GTA 5, whether that copy is physical or digital. On Xbox One, however, it applies only to players with the digital version. A parallel upgrade pathway is also open to PC users, who can swap from the Legacy edition of GTA 5 to the Enhanced version at no additional cost.
Rockstar released the Enhanced editions for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2022. At the time, the company pointed to a range of improvements for current-gen systems, such as a new fidelity mode that supports resolutions up to 4K and performance targeting 60 FPS. These upgraded versions also take advantage of the consoles’ faster storage, 3D audio features, and DualSense haptic feedback.
Before today’s announcement, players looking to play on current consoles generally needed to pay £35/$40 for a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S version. When the Enhanced editions first launched, Rockstar offered a short-lived upgrade price of £8/$10, along with discounted bundles that have since been removed.
If you decide to use this promotion, make sure you transfer both your GTA 5 story progress and your GTA Online progress from PS4 and Xbox One to the matching current-gen editions. That way, you won’t lose years of playtime. It’s a straightforward, one-time process.
This news lands alongside early reporting about the next major GTA Online update, which is set to add a new heist among other things. Rockstar shared early details on The Kortz Center Heist, describing how it will let players hit the well-known gallery featuring some of its most valuable artworks. The heist arrives as part of a major update in July, and it will also be available to GTA Online players on previous-gen consoles—useful for anyone who doesn’t want to upgrade for free.
Of course, this timing comes just a few months before the long-awaited release of Grand Theft Auto 6, which will be playable only on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Maybe it’s a helpful nudge for players to make the move to the newer systems before launch.