GTA Online upgrade to the PS5 version is free to keep to anyone who already owns the PS4 version of the game, no PS+ required.
There has been a lot of confusion since Sony revealed back in 2020 that GTA Online will be free to PS5 users. Their original announcement came in the form of a video where fans got the impression that you will need a PS+ subscription to grab a free copy of GTA Online on the PS5.
Now that we're just two weeks away from the release of GTA Online and GTA V on the PlayStation 5, Rockstar has finally come out to set the record straight. On a blog post on the Rockstar Games Newswire, the game will be free to keep for anyone who owns a PlayStation 5 when the game launches on March 15. Players don't need to own a PS4 copy of GTA V or GTA Online, nor do they need a PS5 copy of GTA Online. While the game is free to keep, players will still need an active PS+ subscription to play the game and connect to online servers.
There's a catch though – the game is only free to keep to anyone owning a PS5 within the first three months of release. That means anyone trying to redeem GTA Online for free on the PS5 won't be able to do so when the date starts reading June 15. That's a very long period covered, if you ask me, so anyone who has access to a PS5 shouldn't miss the opportunity to catch a free copy of GTA Online on their pristine next-gen console.
The next-gen versions of both Grand Theft Auto V and Online will feature “4K resolution, a frame rate of up to 60 frames per second, improved texture quality, HDR options, and ray tracing — as well as utilizing the technical advancements of the latest console hardware for faster loading times, immersive 3D audio, support for platform-specific features, and more.”