Why GTA Online cross-play between PC and consoles might be a bad idea

The enthusiasm surrounding GTA Online is an already established phenomenon for the gaming community. After almost a decade of its release, the multiplayer action-adventure game continues to attract new players, primarily due to its dynamic nature.

The title has many feature updates that keep the gameplay as fresh as ever, and allow players to explore and indulge in new activities regularly. However, there is one thing about GTA Online that players have been eagerly waiting for ever since the release of the game – the ability to cross-play between PC and consoles.

Grand Theft Auto does not feature cross-play support despite being the touchstone of cross-gen gaming.

Even though gaming seems to be at its best today, the idea of cross-platform gaming is relatively recent enough and innovative. Essentially, cross-play games are those that can be played over different gaming platforms such as PlayStation, Xbox, PC, etc. This is different from run-off-the-mill systems where PC players can only play with other PC players, with the same for those playing on PS and Xbox.

More recently, even smartphones seem to have joined the list of platforms in which some famous games are available for cross-play. Ideally, it seems that all games should allow cross-play. However, there are certain reasons why implementing it is not as easy as it sounds.

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Cross-play in GTA Online - consequences, difficulties, and more

A host of online games have been making the most out of cross-play. It can come across as a surprise that GTA Online does not feature among them. However, there are quite a few reasons that justify Rockstar’s intentions.

The Grand Theft Auto series features some of the most elaborate gameplay and plot in the open-world genre of gaming. It is not a new phenomenon that the coding giants have gone overboard with the amount of detailing in GTA Online's locations, characters, plots, and related aspects.

With cross-play at its initial stages of development, providing that perfection across platforms is difficult. Since almost every aspect of the game contributes to the outcome, it would not be wise to meddle with performance in the name of experiments and innovations.

Another unfair advantage that PC players have over GTA Online's console users is the plethora of mods that can change almost every in-game feature. Instances of meddling with the game to achieve desired results are not new, given the convenience these mods offer on PCs.

There have also been multiple problems with game hacking and cheating from PC players, which is unfortunate and unfair to those who do not use such means. Hence, cross-play will offer PC players the upper hand while playing simultaneously with console players, making a joke out of the game's ethics.

As lucrative as being able to play with friends across systems sounds, there are quite a few other issues that can crop up while cross-playing GTA Online. It might become challenging to determine the location of online saves. There are a host of other differences in control schemes and graphics that might limit the ability of the title to be playable across platforms.

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Many in the community believe that console and PC cross-play would be an additional benefit. Such a feature is expected to go a long way in enhancing the longevity of the title even further.

With the release of another new title not too far away, players can only hope that Rockstar considers this too. Although logistically difficult at present, the success of the cross-play capability of other famous titles serves as inspiration, and players can only wait for the developers to take the hints soon.