Even with the recent announcement of GTA 6, GTA Online is likely here to stay for now. First released in 2013, GTA Online is still popular and is updated regularly. But one question remains: Is it worth playing in 2024?

As someone with 1300+ hours in GTA Online, I’ve bought and used most things in the game. I’ve also played nearly every mission, and done my fair share of grinding. Because I’ve already “beat” GTA Online, I’ll give you a fair assessment of the game.

Whether you’ve never played GTA Online before, or you haven’t played it in a while…

I’ll tell you everything you need to know – the good and the bad – so you can make your own informed decision.

About GTA Online

Three criminals leave behind a path of destruction

Next-gen trailer for GTA V and GTA Online

GTA Online is an open-world multiplayer game where players compete to expand their criminal empires. Players do this by making money through businesses, missions, heists, and more. Most of the time, other players can sabotage your operations.

Players can use their money to invest in more lucrative businesses. Alternatively, they can spend it on toys like supercars, tanks, jets, and more. 

GTA Online Story

Four criminals make their escape after robbing the Pacific Standard Public Deposit Bank

GTA Online’s story timeline is confusing to say the least.

The earliest updates to GTA Online take place months before the events of GTA 5’s story mode. However, ever since the gunrunning DLC came out in 2017, any new updates take place years after GTA 5 story mode.

When you play GTA Online for the first time, your character arrives in Los Santos looking for new opportunities. Your character meets with Lamar Davis and is acquainted with other characters from the story mode.

As your character becomes a notorious criminal, you’re invited by different individuals to do heists and other profitable jobs. You also get to pursue a variety of illegal business ventures and other illicit money-making methods.

While it might have the most clear or interesting story, GTA Online gets some slack. Since it’s a multiplayer game, it doesn’t need a deep story like a single-player game does. You could ignore the entire plot and still have a blast.

As someone who played GTA Online first, seeing story mode characters in the online game eventually made me play the single-player game.

Playing through GTA 5 story mode can make GTA Online more interesting, but it’s not necessary if you just want to enjoy the game.

GTA Online Gameplay

Five daredevils participate in a questionably safe stunt race

Official gameplay video for GTA Online

While many games let you create a character from scratch, GTA Online makes you choose your appearance based on who your parents are. Some potential parents include Niko Bellic from GTA 4 and John Marston from Red Dead Redemption. After choosing your parents, you get to customize minor parts of your appearance.

Once players get thrown into the world of Los Santos and Blaine County, the number of things to do is almost endless:

• Missions, minigames, races, and jobs
• Cruise around the city
• PvP combat
• Hang out with friends and strangers
• Steal cars and commit other crimes
• Freemode events around the map
• And much, much more

The open-world sessions are also known as freemode. Each freemode server can have up to 30 players. With the city of Los Santos and the rural country of Blaine County, players have many places to go.

You can expect most lobbies to have at least a few players fighting each other. Especially if people are gathered in one spot. While fun for some, you can avoid most violence by going to a less populated part of the map. You can also find a new lobby.

As for NPCs, there are a lot of them spread throughout the map. Most NPCs in the game are just unnamed civilians, cops, or soldiers depending on where you are. While they might have some dialogue, they won’t interact with your character on a deep level.

When you do a Rockstar-created mission (especially a heist), you’ll often meet story mode NPCs with more interesting dialogue. Most dialogue happens in cutscenes. Nearly every mission requires at least one other person. But even if you don’t have friends, you can still matchmake with others.

Other than the fact that GTA Online is a grind (if you want all the cool vehicles), there’s one major area for improvement – cracking down on modders on PC.

In the few times that I played GTA Online on PC, I came across modders in almost every lobby. I play on PS4, so anyone with a modded account usually only has a ton of money. But modders can use cheats on PC to make or ruin your experience.

In my second time playing on PC, a modder boosted my low-level account to level 100. That was nice of them, but not everyone wants to cheat. If you want to play GTA Online without modders bothering you, consider playing on console.

GTA Online Combat

A squadron of jets taking off from an aircraft carrier

Watch how PvP works in GTA Online -- Start at 2:57

I can’t speak for PC, but console players can choose between free aim and assisted aim. Assisted aim locks onto a player when aiming while free aim doesn’t. Players may choose between a few levels of assistance. Once selected, the player will only play with those who have the same aim settings.

Combat can take many forms in GTA Online. From guns and handheld explosives to using weaponized vehicles and missiles, PvP can get interesting.

Most players use either an AR or LMG as their main weapon of choice. Popular combat vehicles include helicopters, military jets, and even a flying bike with homing missiles (no, I’m not kidding).

Most players use simple strategies like combat rolling, but tryhards can get tiring quickly. Some tryhards will explode themselves before you finish them off so that you don’t get the kill. As you can imagine, PvP can be annoying depending on your opponent.

While it might not be for everyone, the combat system isn’t bad. There are ways to counter nearly every opponent. The combat animations and sounds are also decent, adding to a fun and competitive experience.

GTA Online Mission System

Inside the heist planning room

Without spoiling much, most of the main missions of GTA Online are action-packed. Some missions are started through your in-game phone when you get an invite to a job. Or they’re triggered through an event (such as entering your heist planning room).

I’ve had some of the best moments when I was playing heists with friends. If someone talks badly about GTA heists, it’s not that the heist is bad. Instead, it’s usually because the person is replaying the heist and has gotten bored of it. With how expensive everything is, some people replay heists to make money.

You can also do missions for your in-game businesses. From manufacturing and trafficking drugs to selling stolen high-end cars, players have many ways to make money. These missions get boring fast though because of their repetitive nature.

On their own, most missions aren’t boring. However, they become dull when they’re replayed multiple times. Unfortunately, you have to grind many of these missions to make good money.

GTA Online Graphics

The metropolitan heart of Los Santos at the golden hour

See GTA Online's graphics for yourself in this short cinematic film

GTA Online graphics aren’t anything special. When you compare GTA Online to Red Dead Redemption 2, it obviously doesn’t come close. Despite this, I still think the game looks good. The graphics are tolerable, and you still get an HD experience. The graphics and animations both make everything look realistic (except for the occasional silly physics).

New Content Updates

Cover art for GTA Online’s newest update – The Cluckin’ Bell Farm Raid

GTA Online has at least a couple of major content updates each year. They’ve become less frequent as the game gets older. As a whole, updates are often hit-or-miss, but there’s usually at least one new cool vehicle added.

The most recent update, the Cluckin’ Bell Farm Raid, adds a new heist to the game. Although the pay isn’t impressive for a high-level player like me, it was a fun heist to play through. I can’t shake the feeling though that these new DLCs aren’t as good as they could be.

Since GTA Online is a multiplayer game, there isn’t a mod community to help add new content to the game. But I think there’s just enough content to hold over players until the release of GTA 6 – especially if you’re new or haven’t played in a while.

GTA Online Developer

Two masked individuals raiding a cartel’s operations

While Rockstar North developed GTA Online, most players think of Rockstar Games, the game publisher, as the developer. With such a huge player base, not everyone thinks Rockstar is listening to their fans. A common opinion is that Rockstar is milking GTA Online until GTA 6 is released.

The game isn’t too buggy other than getting stuck in loading screens and the occasional random glitch. Rockstar Games has a dedicated customer support website for bug reporting. In my experience, they were very responsive and helpful when I had a technical issue with my account.

GTA Online Price

A suitcase full of ill-gotten gains

GTA Online is available to play on Xbox One, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC. You get free access to GTA Online by buying a copy of GTA 5 (about $40). Alternatively, you can get a standalone GTA Online on new-gen consoles for about $20. There’s also usually a discount, making it even cheaper.

There are optional in-game purchases for more money. I don’t think they’re necessary though. It’s easier now to earn money. Plus, most new purchases of GTA 5 include some kind of starter pack and additional money. It’s almost impossible to start the game off as a broke noob nowadays.

Final Verdict

The Akula stealth helicopter patrolling the skies

In short: Until GTA 6 comes out, GTA Online is worth playing. With how easy it is to make money now, it’s worth playing even if you’re new. And if you haven’t played in a while, check out the new content. It’s not a bad game, especially if you have friends to play with.

Pros:

• PvP can be thrilling at times
• Large open-world map
• Decent graphics
• Easier than ever to make money
• Lots of fun missions, jobs, and minigames to do
• Still being updated for foreseeable future

Cons:

• Tryhards can ruin PvP
• You still have to grind to make money
• Things are very expensive
• PC version is full of modders
• Less fun if you play without friends
• Probably won’t be popular once GTA 6’s online comes out

Score: 7/10

You may also be interested in:

• [Top 10] GTA Online Best Businesses to Make Money
• [Top 10] Most Fun Things To Do In GTA Online
• [Top 10] GTA Online Most Fun Missions