Can you play GTA Online on PS5 with PS4 players? This question has been asked since the day the GTA 5 enhanced edition launched, and as more players upgrade to PS5 consoles it's becoming an increasingly pressing issue for groups who straddle the divide. If you're trying to set up cross-generation crossplay in GTA Online, or indeed any sort of connection with friends on consoles different from your own, then the short answer is no, as that's not possible. However, there is a workaround if you continue to run the older version of the game on your newer console, so read on for everything you need to know about GTA Online crossplay, cross-generation play, and if you can play with PS4 or Xbox One players on a PS5 or Xbox Series X.
Does GTA Online have crossplay for PS5 and PS4, and Xbox?
The short answer is no, but it’s a bit complicated and there is a sort of workaround. First of all, let’s make this clear: currently, GTA Online does not have any form of crossplay, so GTA Online players on PlayStation cannot play with Xbox or PC players and vice versa. A few different versions of GTA Online also exist, and the only people you can play with are those that own the same version of GTA Online as you, as well as the same platform.
For example, players that own the most recently released enhanced edition of GTA 5 or GTA Online for PS5 and Xbox Series X will not be able to play with anyone that is running the old-gen versions for PS4 and Xbox One. This means that if you own a PS5 and the enhanced version of GTA Online, the only other players you can play with are fellow PS5 players that also own the enhanced version of GTA Online for current-gen consoles – the same goes for Xbox Series X. If you're a little confused about upgrading, here's how to get the GTA 5 Enhanced Version.
However, if you own a PS5 but are still running the old-gen version for PS4 through backward compatibility, then you can only play with people who own that version, so you’ll be playing on a PS5 with PS4 players. While this isn’t true crossplay, it is a workaround that allows players from two different console generations to play together, though it means PS5 players must run an older version of the game.
If you do own the enhanced version of GTA Online, it’s likely that you’ve figured out how to transfer your GTA Online character from PS4 to PS5 or Xbox Series X. While this previously resulted in your old-gen data being wiped off the servers, as of June 2023 the process has changed so that your PS4 or Xbox One character(s) will be retained after migration, though future progress will not sync between across platforms. This means that it's now possible to continue playing with PS4 players by running the PS4 version of the game, while also running the PS5 version to play with PS5 players, though this could get confusing with progress not transferring between the two.
To sum up – if you're playing the PS4 version of GTA Online on your PS5, you can only connect with other PS4 players, but if you upgrade to the PS5 version then you'll only be able to connect to other PS5 players through that. Upgrading to the PS5 version no longer deletes your PS4 profile, though future progress will not sync between them.
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