Do you need PS Plus to play GTA Online?

With GTA Online becoming an affordable standalone title, players are wondering whether they still need PS Plus to play the game. The PlayStation Plus subscription is usually reserved for premium online multiplayer games. So, do you need PS Plus to play GTA Online?

Is PS Plus Required to Play GTA Online?

GTA Online does indeed fall under the category of premium (Non-F2P) multiplayer online games, so you’ll, unfortunately, need PS Plus to play GTA Online. While you don’t need to have GTA V anymore, with GTA Online being its own game, you still need the subscription. Basically, you’re paying $19.99, and you still need one of these:

• Essential PS Plus Monthly Subscription: $9.99.
• Essential PS Plus 3-Month Subscription: $24.99.
• Essential PS Plus 12-Month Subscription: $79.99.

It’s not much of a consolation but at least I only need the bare minimum Essential package to be able to access online play. If you’re planning on investing in GTA Online I would highly recommend the PS Plus 12-month subscription since it ends up costing you around $6.66 per month. A devilish sum to be sure on an annual level, especially since you’ve already purchased the game but such is the case for most premium online titles these days.

If you look around Reddit forums, you’ll see that many players are asking for GTA Online to become a free-to-play title. In this case, players wouldn’t have to pay either the PS Plus fee or the $19.99 for the base game. In terms of the transaction model, this would equate to something like PUBG or Fortnite, and Rockstar would probably introduce various micro-transactions to compensate.

Rockstar hasn’t mentioned anything about this yet, so it seems unlikely. To sum up, do you need PS Plus to play GTA Online? Yes, unfortunately, we do. If you’re already playing the game, check out our GTA Online guides which include the best flying cars or where to get Bugatti.