GTA 5 Owners Receive a Free Upgrade While Waiting for GTA 6

Grand Theft Auto 6 is five months away, and it’s shaping up to be the biggest game of this generation. The biggest game of the previous generation, Grand Theft Auto 5, has been out for nearly 13 years and still generates millions of dollars in revenue for publisher Rockstar Games. To keep players engaged ahead of GTA 6’s release, Rockstar is rolling out a free upgrade for GTA 5 owners.

Those who purchased the PS4 and Xbox One versions of GTA 5 will receive a free PS5 and Xbox Series version upgrade on Thursday, according to a post from Rockstar on Wednesday. PC owners will also be able to upgrade their version from the older Legacy version to the newer Enhanced version, which includes better visuals, tech upgrades to make use of ray tracing, new content, and modern hardware support for SSDs, DualSense controller and better audio. 

Along with the game improvements, new features will be available to those who upgraded, including Hao’s Special Works for high-performance vehicles and upgrades, Career Progress rewards and more. Those who are upgrading can check out Rockstar’s guide on migrating their profile to transfer their Story Mode and GTA Online progress between the different versions. 

Before Wednesday’s news, the same upgrade for GTA 5 would cost $10. Rockstar initially released the PS5 and Xbox Series versions of the game in March 2022, but those who already owned the game could pay for the upgrade instead of buying the game again. 

It’s clear Rockstar wants those who are still playing GTA 5 or GTA Online to upgrade to the latest version of the game before the release of GTA 6 in November. The company may have plans to carry over GTA Online progress to the new game when it comes out. 

For Rockstar, GTA Online was a major moneymaker following its release in October 2013. Players of the online game who wanted more in-game cash could go online or to their respective game stores and purchase Shark Cash Cards using their real-world money, and many did just for more than a decade. In April, a hacker group stole some data from Rockstar and leaked it online. One financial report showed GTA Online was earning more than $1 million per day from September 2025 to April 2026. 

GTA 6 will launch on Nov. 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series consoles. There is no word on a PC version or a Switch 2 version of the game. Pricing and preorder info have yet to be released by Rockstar.