5 reasons GTA Online is now outdated

Modified Jul 16, 2024 11:38 GMT

GTA Online has been running since October 1, 2013, and is close to completing 11 years. Like its story mode, Grand Theft Auto Online started as a banger that kept the gaming community busy during that time. Rockstar Games also released various content updates adding new things to the online multiplayer.

While the studio continues to support the title on multiple platforms, the gameplay quite often feels lost in time. This article lists five reasons GTA Online has become outdated as of 2024.

Note: This article is subjective and only reflects the writer’s opinions.

5 things that make GTA Online feel outdated in 2024

1) The map is getting congested

An overview of the Grand Theft Auto 5 Online map (Image via Rockstar Games)

While GTA Online has one of the biggest open worlds, it is gradually getting congested. While businesses are essential for making money in the game, they cover almost the entire area if you acquire all of them. Despite releasing multiple DLCs, Rockstar Games never expanded the map.

The Cayo Perico Heist DLC introduced the Cayo Perico island. But, it isn't accessible in free roam. This, players have to do all their activities on the same map sharing the same locations with others.

2) In-game graphics

While the graphics of GTA Online looked ahead of time during its release, it has undoubtedly aged as of 2024. The Grand Theft Auto 5 Expanded and Enhanced version slightly improved the graphics. But it wasn't groundbreaking like the Enhanced and PC versions.

The characters and other visuals have started to show their age. Rockstar Games even took many years to add ray-tracing into the game. Considering the contemporary developments in video game visuals, we can expect GTA Online’s graphics to become completely outdated within a few more years.

3) No new major DLCs

While Rockstar Games releases new DLCs every six months and calls them "big" updates, the community uniformly considers The Cayo Perico update as the last major DLC in a true sense. The GTA Online Bottom Dollar Bounties DLC was promoted as a major DLC, but its popularity dropped within a few weeks after its release.

The Cayo Perico update added a new map and heist mission to the game. While players enjoyed it for years, Rockstar nerfed it many times. As of now, the community wants a Michael DLC, but that hasn't been heeded yet.

4) Impact of Grand Theft Auto 6

Grand Theft Auto 6 has a huge impact on why GTA Online feels outdated now. While the GTA 6 leaks had some fans worried about the game, the first trailer shattered all the doubts and wowed the gaming community. It showed surreal graphics, realistic physics, great open-world details, advanced NPC reactions, new car models, and many more.

Playing the game again after seeing such improvements certainly feels dejecting. The player base is eager to play Grand Theft Auto 6 while somehow coping with Grand Theft Auto 5 Online till the upcoming release.

5) Rockstar Games is recycling missions

An in-game screenshot from Grand Theft Auto 5 Online (Image via Rockstar Games)

Rockstar Games has been actively recycling missions in GTA Online for a few years. While players expect new mission designs in new locations, the developer is recycling various Story Mode missions and adding them as new gameplay in the multiplayer mode.

The same pattern was also seen in the Bottom Dollar Bounties DLC. Rockstar Games is now majorly focused on the Grand Theft Auto 6 gameplay. Consequently, it is using old assets for the decade-old game.

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Edited by Angad Sharma