Will GTA 6 be on Game Pass or PS Plus? Not at launch

The only way to play GTA 6 on release day will be to buy it. It won’t be available on Xbox Game Pass or in the PS Plus catalog on November 19, 2026.

The reason is financial, and the company’s CEO has explained it bluntly. Strauss Zelnick, president of Take-Two, has been saying since 2022 that adding a new-release game to a subscription service on the same day “makes no sense” because “we don’t believe consumers are willing to pay for that” and “we can’t afford to turn our business upside down in a way that makes no economic sense.” In 2024, when Microsoft released Call of Duty on Game Pass on launch day, he was asked if that would make him change his mind. His response: “No. Because our decisions are rational.”

Keep in mind a nuance that almost no one mentions: Zelnick has never mentioned GTA 6 and Game Pass in the same sentence. He’s talking about his policy for all of the company’s first-party launch titles. That this applies to GTA 6 is an inference by the press—a very reasonable one, given the track record—but not an announcement.

What the track record shows—which is the closest thing to an answer

Rockstar does eventually make its games available through subscription services, but years after selling them at full price:

• GTA V was released in September 2013 and didn’t arrive on Xbox Game Pass until January 2020: six years and four months. Since then, it has been added to and removed from the catalog several times; its most recent stint lasted a year, from April 2025 to April 2026.
• Red Dead Redemption 2 was released in October 2018 and joined Game Pass in May 2020, a year and a half later. It left after four months and hasn’t returned.
• On PS Plus, the pattern repeats: GTA V was part of the Extra catalog in December 2023, November 2024, and November 2025.
• And the fact that sums it all up: no Take-Two game has ever launched on Game Pass on day one. Not even the non-Rockstar ones.

Zelnick himself has left the door slightly ajar to that future: he says that the subscription “may make sense for back-catalog games, but not for new releases.” GTA 6 will be a back-catalog game someday. That day isn’t November 19.

And Microsoft—can’t it afford it?

Less and less. In April 2026, it confirmed that this year’s Call of Duty will no longer be available on Game Pass on launch day, but rather approximately one year later. In other words: the service is scaling back the very type of deal that would be needed for GTA 6, not expanding it. That same month, it lowered the price of its most expensive plan, Ultimate, from $29.99 to $22.99 per month.

What Does Exist: GTA+

The GTA 6-related subscription that is actually real is the one offered by Rockstar itself. GTA+ costs €7.99 per month, and if you’ve pre-ordered the game digitally, you get one free month that you can redeem right now.

Two things to note—that’s what we’re here for: that free month automatically renews at the regular price unless you manually cancel it in your account, and physical pre-orders don’t include it. You can find the details in our guide on how to pre-order GTA 6.

In summary

• Will it be on Game Pass on November 19? No.
• On PS Plus on November 19? No, not there either.
• Someday? Probably, in quite a few years—just like with GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2. But right now, that’s just a prediction based on past trends, not an official announcement.
• Are there any leaks saying otherwise? We haven’t found any credible ones. If you come across one, be skeptical.

Were you also wondering if it will come out on PS4 or Xbox One, if it’ll come to PC, or if there will be an online mode?