GTA 5 is leaving Xbox Game Pass leading up to GTA 6 launch

Microsoft will be removing Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) from Xbox Game Pass on Xbox Series One and Series X|S soon. That’s right. On Tuesday, the company listed the title in the ‘Leaving soon’ section of the subscription service. Microsoft hasn’t revealed the date on which the popular game will leave Xbox Game Pass. However, a post on X (previously known as Twitter) from @IdleSloth84_ says that GTA 5 will leave the subscription service on January 15, 2024.

This will be the third time Microsoft will be removing GTA 5 from Xbox Game Pass. Previously, the company had made the game available on the subscription service from January 2020 to May 2020 and from April 2021 to August 2021. The last time it had added GTA 5 to Xbox Game Pass was in July 2023. Now, the title is leaving once again.

Two other popular games leaving Xbox Game Pass in January 2024

GTA 5, however, isn’t the only popular title leaving Xbox Game Pass soon. Microsoft will remove two more popular titles from the subscription service soon: Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden. These games are also leaving on January 15. So, if you want to play these titles without buying them, you have almost two weeks to do so.

While Microsoft will be removing GTA 5 from Xbox Game Pass soon, Sony recently added the title to PlayStation Plus. So, Rockstar Games seems to be making the game available on the two platforms alternatively. These announcements come right after the developer released the first trailer of Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6), which is due to be released in 2025. So, Rockstar might be making these moves to create buzz before the arrival of the next title in the series.