It's the end of an era as GTA Online will be shutting down on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year. GTA Online will turn eight on these platforms soon, but Rockstar will be pulling support at the end of the year, subsequently killing the game where it all started. Of course, the title will still remain on other, more modern platforms.
GTA Online has evolved a lot since launching in 2013, shortly after the launch of Grand Theft Auto V itself. The game has not only ballooned in popularity over the last decade, but it has also expanded into other things entirely. Modders have used the game as a foundation for other creations, such as roleplaying servers that dramatically change the GTA Online experience, all but turning it into another game entirely. It has quite the history, and it all started from a much smaller version of the game.
GTA Online came out in October 2013 and although it was fun, it was much less robust than its modern iteration. Now, after countless updates, GTA Online players are pushing the boundaries of the game and trying the impossible thanks to all of the new vehicles and tools Rockstar has added. The mode stopped receiving any more updates on Xbox 360 and PS3 about a year after it released on Xbox One and PS4 and now, Rockstar will shut it down completely on December 16, 2021. Players can still play story mode on those platforms, but will no longer have access to online on Xbox 360 and PS3. Additionally, Rockstar will be shutting down stat tracking for Max Payne 3 and LA Noire on those two platforms as well.
It's not a total surprise, as it seems unlikely there are that many players playing the game or buying microtransactions on those out of date consoles. If there's no financial reason to keep the servers alive, it makes sense for Rockstar to shut it all down. GTA 5 will come to new consoles this November with a standalone version of GTA Online, and Rockstar plans to continue to support the game through new updates, so there's still a big future in store for the title.
There are still a surprising amount of games active on Xbox 360 and PS3, partially thanks to things like backward compatibility on Xbox consoles. Numerous old Call of Duty games still have servers online, but it can still be rather hard to find a lobby depending on the title. With GTA Online on so many other platforms that are growing cheaper everyday, there's very little reason for Rockstar to continue catering to that crowd, especially since updates stopped for the game six years ago. Sadly, all good things must come to an end.
Source: Rockstar
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June 17, 2021 at 12:35AM
