Is GTA 5 Still Worth Playing in 2026? We Checked the Numbers So You Don’t Have To
GTA 6 launches in less than two months. So why are tens of thousands of people still logging into a game that came out in 2013?
That’s not a rhetorical question. It’s a real one, and the numbers behind it are more interesting than you’d expect.
Gamer take: GTA 5 is old enough to have nostalgia for its own nostalgia at this point, and it still somehow has more going on than half the open world games that released last year. 😅
Is GTA 5 Still Worth Playing? The Numbers Say Yes
Here’s the part that should settle any doubt about whether GTA 5 has quietly died out: it hasn’t, not even close.
On Steam alone, GTA V Enhanced averaged roughly 53,500 concurrent players over the past 30 days, peaking near 100,000. That’s Steam only, not PlayStation, not Xbox, not the Rockstar Launcher. The real GTA 5 player count in 2026, across every platform, is almost certainly several times that number.
Zoom out further and it gets more absurd. Take-Two’s own investor materials put lifetime GTA 5 units sold-in at well over 200 million, a figure that keeps climbing more than a decade after release. Very few games in history have stayed commercially relevant this long, let alone one built for PS3 and Xbox 360.
So What's Actually Still Good About It?
The honest answer: more than you’d guess if your last playthrough was years ago.
Los Santos remains one of the most detailed open worlds ever built, and the three-protagonist structure, Michael, Franklin, and Trevor, still does something most open-world games never bother attempting: it lets the story change perspective mid-mission instead of locking you into one character’s viewpoint for 40 hours straight.
There’s also a simpler appeal that gets overlooked. GTA 5’s campaign has an ending. You start it, you finish it, and you’re done, no live-service treadmill required.
The GTA 5 Enhanced Edition Changes the Conversation
A lot of outdated opinions about GTA 5 come from people who haven’t seen it running on the Enhanced version.
The upgrade added ray-traced lighting, DLSS and FSR support on PC, and noticeably better performance across the board, all offered as a free upgrade to existing owners. It doesn’t rebuild the game from scratch, the mission design and world systems are still fundamentally from 2013, but visually, the gap between GTA 5 and a “modern” game is a lot smaller than its release date suggests.
If you’re thinking about upgrading or waiting for GTA 6 on PC, our [GTA 6 PC release date guide] covers what Rockstar has actually confirmed.
GTA 5 vs GTA 6: Should You Actually Wait?
This is the real question behind most of this search traffic, so let’s answer it directly.
If you’ve never touched GTA 5 and GTA 6 is the only reason you’re excited about the series, waiting is completely reasonable. November 19 isn’t far off, and GTA 6 pre orders are already live
But if you want something to actually play right now, GTA 5 still delivers a complete campaign, a massive GTA Online ecosystem, and one of the deepest PC modding scenes in gaming. Waiting only makes sense if you’re specifically holding out for GTA 6, not because GTA 5 has stopped being worth your time.
For a closer look at what GTA 6 is actually bringing to the table, our [GTA 6 Extended Look breakdown] goes through the gameplay systems Rockstar has shown so far.
Should I Play GTA 5 Before GTA 6?
You don’t have to. GTA 6 is a fully separate story with new characters, Jason and Lucia, and a new setting in Leonida. Rockstar isn’t building it as a sequel that requires GTA 5 knowledge.
That said, playing GTA 5 first gives you a useful before-and-after. You get to see exactly how Rockstar handled mission design, character switching, and open-world density heading into this new generation, then compare it directly once GTA 6 arrives. The difference becomes even more interesting when you look at the [GTA 6 map size compared with GTA 5].
What Happens to GTA Online When GTA 6 Launches?
Nobody outside Rockstar knows for certain, and anyone claiming otherwise is guessing. What we do know: Take-Two continues to list GTA Online and GTA 5 as major, active contributors to its business in current financial reporting, and Rockstar is still shipping new GTA Online content in 2026, not winding it down ahead of GTA 6.
That’s not a promise about the future. It’s just evidence that GTA 5 isn’t being treated like a game on its way out the door.
KarmaVerse Verdict
GTA 5 doesn’t need to beat GTA 6 to still be worth your time, and that’s genuinely the wrong comparison to make. The question isn’t whether a 2013 game can out-perform something built for current-gen hardware. It obviously can’t.
The real question is whether the things that made GTA 5 great in the first place are still there. They are. The campaign still works, Los Santos is still fun to just drive around in, and GTA Online is still an actively maintained platform, not a museum piece.
Our take: play it because Los Santos still has something worth doing, not because you feel obligated to finish some pre-GTA 6 homework assignment.
FAQs
Is GTA 5 still worth playing in 2026?
Yes. The single player campaign remains a complete, well-regarded open-world experience, and GTA Online continues receiving new content and updates well into 2026.
What is the GTA 5 player count in 2026?
On Steam alone, GTA V Enhanced averages roughly 53,500 concurrent players over a 30-day period, with peaks near 100,000. That figure doesn’t include PlayStation, Xbox, or Rockstar Launcher players, so the true total is significantly higher.
Is the GTA 5 Enhanced Edition worth playing?
Yes, particularly on PC or current-gen consoles. It adds ray tracing, DLSS/FSR support, and meaningfully improved performance as a free upgrade for existing owners.
Should I play GTA 5 before GTA 6?
It’s not required. GTA 6 tells a new, separate story with new characters. Playing GTA 5 first is optional but gives useful context for how Rockstar’s design approach has evolved.
Should I wait for GTA 6 instead of playing GTA 5 now?
Only if GTA 6 is specifically what you’re excited about. If you want a complete open-world game to play immediately, GTA 5 still holds up on its own.
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