Many of these games are so addictive and well-designed, you’re probably going to be thinking about them when you’re not playing them. Let’s get started!

1. Where Winds Meet

This wuxia-based RPG is simply unmatched when it comes to the number of activities it offers you, the quality of each one, and the variety you can find. It’s an open world where exploration without having a specific destination in mind is the best possible way to experience it, with a lot of great side content baked into the game aside from a compelling main campaign.

With online multiplayer and MMO elements integrated into the gameplay loop, and combat and gear systems that are great for creating unique PvP characters, there’s just so much to do in this game, and so much more to come with subsequent updates, that hitting triple figures on your playtime is almost an inevitability.

2. EA Sports FC 26

The football simulator that’s been around forever continues to be a viable option for a game that has you coming back to it every chance you get, for a very long time after you first boot it up. With a very detailed Career mode, regular online events, the option to pit your team against your friend, or perhaps have a buddy join your team instead, there’s a lot to experience.

The gameplay on offer is also quite solid, with a lot of realism baked into the experience to make you feel like you’re on the pitch and not staring at it through a screen. However, its systems and some of its challenges are going to require that you literally put your best foot forward on the pitch. If you decide to dive into this one, the game is on and is going to stay that way for a while.

3. Fortnite

Once again, there’s so much to do in Fortnite, which is more of a platform than a game at this point. With so many modes on offer, regular content being added into the game, social features that make it a blast when it’s enjoyed in company, and a PvP Battle Royale mode that has become quite popular in its own right, this one’s definitely a game where 200 hours might go by before you even notice.

Dive in and you’re going to find a lot of freedom for self-expression, and a lot of fun to be had on the islands. Just be careful not to put too much of a strain on your wallet, as those outfits and goodies can be very tempting indeed.

4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim + Expansions

Step into the shoes of the Dragonborn and begin your journey into Skyrim, and you’re probably not going to look at another video game until you’ve explored every corner of its sprawling map. Anything can happen along the road to your next point of interest, and with some of the finest RPG mechanics to grace the genre, you’re going to spend a lot of time tinkering with your build.

This is an RPG that has more than earned its popularity and ranks high among modern gaming’s finest for a reason. It’s also smart to dive in now and perhaps brush up on the story ahead of the sequel that’s eventually coming our way. The expansions are worth a mention, and can add a significant amount of hours to your total playtime. Every second of them is going to be worth it, though.

5. GTA Online

A thriving community of players, a massive map to explore in San Andreas, and interesting activities to engage with. GTA Online was kind of a no-brainer for this list. With heists to plan and execute, quests to carry out for some of the main story’s characters, and a reputation to build for your silent protagonist, this one’s going to have you avoiding plans and spending your weekends indoors for a while.

It’s GTA at its finest, and if the delay to GTA VI has had you feeling down, perhaps this one can act as a suitable placebo until the real thing gets here.

6. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt + Story Expansions

Geralt’s search for Ciri, and all the shenanigans he can get up to in the process, continues to be among the best open-world games we’ve played despite it being a decade old at this point. CDPR’s ability to hide a frankly overwhelming amount of secrets across three vast maps, and a whole lot of quality side content to distract the Witcher from looking for his adoptive daughter, is nothing short of a marvel.

The story expansions are a whole other ball game, bringing some very satisfying arcs full of possibilities to change the narrative’s direction, along with excellent new monsters to hunt and more secrets and lore to uncover. You might not be able to get enough of this one, if we’re being honest.

7. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

The first open-world Metal Gear Solid is a great option for those of you who like a game that takes a while to outstay its welcome. Big Boss’s adventures continue in a main campaign that works very well as a bridge between previous entries, while side ops, Metal Gear Online, and the Forward Operating Base systems are all reasons for this one to have you enjoying many entertaining hours of espionage and skullduggery.

Indeed, a significant part of your playtime is going to be planning the best possible route to your objectives without your enemies being none the wiser to your presence. This is a hunt that takes a satisfyingly long time and is definitely worth considering.

8. Destiny 2

This award-winning online FPS title from Bungie has a staggering amount of content for you to take on in its story-based PvE mode, while your multiplayer options range from cooperative three-player missions to PvP battles. There’s a lot to take in, both in terms of the game’s lore and the amount of gear and potential build options you can find.

With a lot of content to get through, and a lot of fun to be had as you dive into all it has to offer, Destiny 2 is a dream come true if you’re an FPS player who wants a game that can take over their holidays.

9. Elden Ring + Shadow of the Erdtree

FromSoftware’s ambitious open-world and the Tarnished’s incredible journey is nothing short of a masterpiece. The Lands Between are full of places to explore, mysteries to uncover, NPCs with haunting stories, and a lot of weapons, armor, gear, and loot to plunder as you try to become Queen Marika’s consort and impose your will on the world.

It’s easy to forget about all that as you ride your horse through the Lands Between, and that feeling only intensifies when you finally make your way to the Land of Shadow in the game’s DLC. Tracing the steps of Miquella is an adventure worth taking on, and coupled with the base game, this one’s a behemoth.

10. Monster Hunter: World + Expansions

Taking on the role of a representative of the Research Commission and exploring every region and zone of the New World was a fun and engaging experience from start to finish. There are so many monsters to hunt, so much to discover, and a whole lot of activities to engage in at your camp and the main base.

Quests flow from one to another almost as smoothly as the water in some parts of the New World, and you’re going to be helping your fellow companions and NPCs while having tons of fun along the way. It helps that this is a game that’s both charming in its writing and enchanting on the visual front. You can’t go wrong with this one, and it’s going to have you getting very creative in your approach to each distinct monster you’re tasked with bringing down.

11. Dragon’s Dogma 2

This sequel was an excellent new addition to Dragon’s Dogma. It was a pleasure to step into the shoes of the Arisen once again, and each of the playable classes brought something interesting to the table. But it’s when you begin to dive deeper into the world’s mysteries and begin to discover more about it that this one’s true depth shows itself.

You’re going to want to place your teleporting stones quite carefully, as the rest of the world actually has you travelling across it, navigating set pathways via a travel system, while the world’s unpredictability can make those trips quite treacherous indeed. This is an experience that is both memorable and filled with so much content and so little hand-holding that you’re going to be obsessed with discovering more about the world and the people you meet within it.

12. Red Dead Redemption 2

Arthur Morgan is an obvious contender for a place on this list of massive games, and his adventures are so extensive that it can be hard to believe one man lived through them all. From kicking back with mini-games to exploring some truly bizarre stories that can come to you in multiple ways, this is a game that can have you walking and talking like a cowboy from the Wild West every chance you get.

It’s among the finest games in modern gaming, and its world is so full of clever little details to discover that hopping on your horse for a new day of exploring is going to take precedence over your leisure time for a very entertaining and lengthy block of time.

13. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla + Expansions

As the largest one in the franchise, Valhalla’s unique take on living your life as a noble Viking and uncovering the conspiracy across England, is a world worth getting lost in.

The game’s expansions do more to set up a lot of things, while coming with some brilliant new adventures for Eivor to pursue, complete with members of shadowy organizations to hunt down. It’s quite a tale, and a very large one full of fun things to do. Switching the cinematic camera on during a boat ride could have you spending more hours on this one than you’d like to admit.

14. No Man’s Sky

As one of modern gaming’s greatest comeback stories, this is a game that stands in its own class in terms of its shelf life. It’s an almost endless adventure, its narrative justifying multiple playthroughs in a way that makes total sense, while the completely random worlds that you get to explore and engage with are quite hard to leave once you start with them.

No Man’s Sky is a story about enjoying the journey, while also waiting eagerly to see what you’re going to find at its destination. It’s going to have you pushing past your bedtime with a smile on your face, and a sense of wonder compelling you to move forward and see just what you’re about to find.

15. Baldur’s Gate 3

With a stellar cast of actors bringing several NPCs to life, and an expertly narrated Dungeons and Dragons-based tale to have their settings intertwine with yours, Larian Studio’s banger continues to be a game that you can keep replaying, with astounding build variety and stories that never truly take place the same way when you play them.

There’s the Honour Mode, cross-platform modding support, co-op and online multiplayer, and a very dark take on the story to play through. Faerun is a great holiday destination, although the things you might find there can stay in the darkest corners of your mind rent-free.

16. Stardew Valley

We weren’t going to leave out one of the ultimate farming simulations from this one. Stardew Valley belongs here, with a playtime that doesn’t really end. You’re going to keep coming back to the farm that you grew from scratch, a town gradually building out of the effort you sink into, and the relationships with its many NPCs you build along the way.

No two days are the same out in this valley, and bringing in the online component is a great way to make this one as immersive as it can be, thanks to a thriving community of die-hard fans. You’re going to feel very welcome in this one, and you might choose to stay with it for a very long time to come.

17. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

This life sim always has a goal to reach, and things to do to get there. The Nook Miles system is its highlight, while the charming world and its uniquely retro art style make it stand out. Building out your presence in its world is an activity on its own, and you’re going to be quite obsessed with placing your buildings in a layout that’s to your liking, while getting them constructed has you constantly checking back into the game.

This is a game where you come to relax, and do that quite often, thanks to how entertaining it is to play, and how satisfying it is to stay with.

18. Gran Turismo 7

This PlayStation-exclusive racing sim is a great option for those of you who’d like to spend your time behind the wheel of a fast car on some of the world’s most iconic tracks. With PSVR2 support, incredible visuals, a very realistic translation of each car’s real-life track performance, and a lot of options to enjoy races at your disposal, you’re going to rack up a lot of miles on your ODO once you get started with this one.

The astounding visuals work very well with the game’s many systems that work well together to make your time on the track feel truly authentic, and push you to try taking those corners as well as you can. It’s time to let those engines loose and enjoy the results for hours on end.

19. Satisfactory

For a game carrying its title, this one is more than satisfactory, and can have you very immersed in building out your space base in your role as the Pioneer. Your factories are soon going to have you thinking about them while you’re away from your PC, and the potential for self-expression is almost humming with endless possibilities.

While its map is almost overwhelmingly large for most players, the ones who invest the time in hunting down as much to do as they can in this game are going to have a lot of fun building out their factories and playing their part in developing the corporation that put them there. Satisfactory is unique, visually distinct, well-executed, and simply fun to play, plain and simple.

20. Mass Effect Legendary Edition

This is the definitive way to enjoy a trilogy of legendary titles, bringing improved visuals and performance while also bringing in each title’s DLC and expansions into one title with a single character creator and the option to launch any of the three games from a unified menu.

If you’re familiar with the Mass Effect games, you already know that you’re going to be spending inordinate amounts of time with each one. You also know that their replay value is off the charts, and it can be easy to lose yourself in this trilogy’s expansive universe, where spending several hours making memories in it can become an entire holiday on its own.

That wraps up our list of the largest games you can get your hands on. We hope you have as much fun playing them as we did, and that the one you pick gives you many fond memories as you play it.

Right off the bat, PC players will gain access to new vehicles at Hao’s Special Works with the option to upgrade certain cars. They can also partake in the Wildlife Photography Challenge to photograph animals in San Andreas, avail of GTA+ and manage their GTA Online empire via the Career Progress page.

The update will also provide a good entry point for new players courtesy of the revamped Landing Page and GTA$4,000,000 for kickstarting their career of choice.

Stay tuned for more details on Grand Theft Auto 5’s PC update in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out our review of the PS5 version.

No Man’s Sky

Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky didn’t start out on the best foot forward, but it was able to turn its fates around for the better thanks to a slew of meaningful content updates over the years. As of now, No Man’s Sky is one of the best space exploration games on the market – and a lot of that can be credited to the interesting procedurally generated geometry that never fails to amaze a player with the sheer amount of diversity and flora and fauna. It’s a game that will almost never run out of content, which makes it something worth sticking with in the long run. 

Remnant 2

The original Remnant was a breakout hit, and the sequel Remnant 2 builds upon that goodwill with its set of engaging mechanics and visually appealing world design. The combat is a mix of ranged and melee, and intense enemy encounters ensure players always have challenging fights to look out for as they make their way through the darkest depths of evil. Remnant 2’s set of mechanics enable players to express themselves through their builds, and this is one of the biggest reasons why it can be such an addictive experience to boot.

Monster Hunter Rise 

The monster hunting genre has been making waves in the industry thanks to recent games like Wild Hearts getting global appreciation from hundreds of thousands of fans, but it is Monster Hunter Rise that arguably represents the best of what the genre has to offer. It’s chock full of different monsters to hunt that are spread across a wide array of biomes, but what makes it so special is the sense of gradual progression as you slowly and steadily knock down monsters and craft the perfect gear for your future monster slaying sessions. 

Gran Turismo 7

Polyphony Digital’s latest Gran Turismo 7 takes what worked in the prior entries, and spins a vast net of gameplay ideas and content that make it a grand sequel in more ways than one. The core gameplay of simulation oriented driving is as crisp and precise as ever, but what hooks you in the long run is the sheer breadth of cars available to collect and upgrade. Of course, the vast amount of different content types also help to prevent the gameplay from becoming too monotonous. There are still some issues related to the payouts, but Gran Turismo 7 is a really great game that deserves to be experienced by every racing fan or motorhead in general.

Returnal 

Housemarque’s clockwork adventure Returnal might not be everyone’s cup of tea on account of its high difficulty, but those who have bested through Atropos’ toughest challenges will tell you that it is one of the most rewarding experiences of recent memory. Returnal’s gunplay rewards careful movement and dynamic strategies, and while getting used to its peculiar style of gameplay and brutal punishment can be tough at first – but once you start seeing the first signs of progress, there’s no going back. 

Grand Theft Auto Online

Grand Theft Auto Online continues to be one of the best multiplayer games on the market. Rockstar has done an amazing job of providing meaningful content updates on a regular basis that keep players coming back time and time again. Be it street races or daring heists like the Cayo Perico heist or even just roleplaying in a random server, Grand Theft Auto 5 never fails to amaze the player not only in terms of the quantity of the content but also the quality of the content itself. 

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake saga is going strong with the recent release of Rebirth. The second chapter of this trilogy is chock full of twists and turns that will keep you hooked to the edge of your seat at times, and the adrenaline pumping action gameplay continues to be an entertaining ride through and through. There’s plenty of side content to check out as well, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a game that will leave you awestruck with its sense of grandeur and general scope of it all.

Destiny 2 

Much like Grand Theft Auto that we discussed previously, Destiny 2 is one of the best games that will serve you well for hundreds upon hundreds of hours. The gunplay is polished to an immaculate sheen, and the constant sense of progression that comes from getting better gear and more specialized builds hooks the player from the core and doesn’t let go. In addition to this, the constantly evolving setting of Light and Dark will also keep you coming back with each new expansion. 

Dragon’s Dogma 2

2024 delivered a grand sequel with Dragon’s Dogma 2. It takes the foundations of the genre, and expands upon those ideas in new and interesting ways resulting in an RPG that keeps on giving thanks to its emergent systems and mechanics. This is precisely why Dragon’s Dogma 2 is so addictive once you get the hang of it, and suffice to say – there’s plenty of content to respect your time once you get lost in its richly realized world. 

Dead Cells

Dead Cells is easily one of the best roguelites of recent memory, and that alone speaks volumes about its level of quality. Motion Twin has created a smooth flowing combat loop that’s simple on the surface, but has plenty of depth in terms of the many builds and weapons that you can try out. Add to that procedural level design and gorgeous pixel art, and Dead Cells can become pretty hard to put down.

Minecraft 

Minecraft is a game that’s all about the joy of creating. This sandbox simulator gives you a lot of freedom in terms of exploration, building, and crafting – and the fun just comes from expressing yourself through your creations. Minecraft’s simple yet extremely addictive nature is what makes it almost timeless in certain aspects, and it’s a game that will keep you coming back for more and more. 

Descenders

There’s just something special about offroading through uncertain terrain whilst seated in a dirt bike, and RageSquids’ Descenders is a game that provides those special feelings in oodles. The bike handling provides a great balance between accessibility and depth, and the procedurally generated worlds ensure that you keep facing new and interesting challenges at regular intervals. 

Sifu 

Sloclap delivered a great action game in the form of Sifu, which impresses with its brutal combat mechanics and permadeath based gameplay. Based on a hard boiled story of revenge, Sifu can be an extremely tough game at best – but the depth of the combat mechanics and fair challenge is what keeps you motivated to trudge through it all. Beating the game is only the start though, and the real joy comes from mastering those mechanics and trying to beat your personal best over and over again. 

Helldivers 2

Helldivers 2 is undoubtedly one of the biggest surprise hits of the year, and a lot of that could be credited to the addictive nature of its gameplay. The gameplay is heavily dependent on careful co-operation, and enemies can quickly overwhelm you in numbers if you aren’t operating at your best. Helldivers 2’s best merits don’t stem from the amount of content or the progression on offer, but rather its ability to generate memorable moments and emergent narratives that will keep you laughing and crying at moments unnoticed. 

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Like A Dragon is a series renowned for its eccentricity and the vast swaths of content on offer, and its latest iteration Infinite Wealth is no different in that regard. Infinite Wealth takes you on a tropical vacation punctuated with all sorts of interesting activities that will leave you grinning all along. There are pancake killer robots, side quests, and Pokemon Snap styled snapping missions all meshed together in one cohesive experience, and it’s honestly a wonder that it all works as beautifully as it does. 

With the exception of Ghostrunner, which is exclusive to PS5 subscribers, all the games will be available to claim on both PS4 and PS5. GTA Online, on the other hand, is a bonus game that will be available to download starting March 15th, while the others will be available to download starting March 1st. Subscribers who haven’t claimed the games for February are advised to do so quickly.

All in all, March 2022’s offerings seem to be heavily focused towards multiplayer, but it is certainly a marked improvement over February’s PS Plus offerings, both in terms of number and quality.

Sony is also reportedly hard at work on a competitor to Xbox Game Pass codenamed Project Spartacus, set for a Spring reveal- read more on that through here.

In addition to this, there’s a whole host of new content coming to the game this month. Players can now use go-karts in the game’s custom race creator. Motor Wars is also making a return this time around, and is paying out handsome rewards in the form of double GTA$ and RP. Players will also get 2x GTA$ on Auto Shop client jobs and Exotic Exports. All players are also getting the Karin Tee free of cost this week.

GTA Online has been a massive success for Rockstar, and the developer has been equally consistent with its content updates. Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold over 150 million copies, and will probably sell a whole lot more when the updated current-gen version will launch next year.

The first and most obvious thing that Grand Theft Auto Online has going for it is the fact that it’s built upon the Grand Theft Auto 5 engine which is a tried-and-true set of tools that Rockstar has used to create outstanding experiences for many years. This allows for a vast array of things to do, a staggering amount of detail to look at while doing them, and a game that runs pretty darn well all things considered. The draw distances are insane as you can see for miles from any ledge overlooking Los Santos, and while doing so it can be a bit crazy to think about how great it all still looks despite its age.

From that, we naturally have to talk about what is perhaps Grand Theft Auto Online’s strongest asset; the absolutely insane variety of modes available to play and things to do. From cooperative heists, F1-style races, to wackier modes like “deadline” that put you in what is basically a Tron game where you race around and avoid hitting the ever-growing tail you leave behind without stopping. It all adds up to an experience that is so dauntingly vast with things to do, that it ultimately feels more like a platform of its own than a single game once you’ve really wrapped your mind around it all. The best part is that the modes are still getting updates and tweaks, and new stuff is still coming out after all this time, so GTA Online is very well-positioned to be a game that once you’re hooked, it’s basically impossible to become un-hooked.

This of course leads us to the next very important thing about GTA Online; it’s an absolutely massive and super dedicated community. Any multiplayer focused video game obviously sinks or swims by how well it’s able to garner a community of players. No matter what else is at play, no matter how great or horrible an online game is, it’s success will ultimately be determined by its audience. Keeping in line with that, Grand Theft Auto Online’s success is pretty much directly proportional to its ability to garner and maintain a massive audience of dedicated players. In Grand Theft Auto Online’s case, it’s not only created a massive audience, but it’s created a massive audience that has also proven they are more than willing to shell out more of their hard-earned money for in-game items on a massive scale.

This, perhaps more than anything else, has shown the folks at Rockstar that this game is a true, one-in-a-generation success. The sheer amount of money and content that the Grand Theft Auto Online community has contributed to the experience is staggering by any reasonable measure. The game generated nearly a billion dollars in revenue for Rockstar in 2020 alone, which is still less than half of what Fortnite did, but to be even comparable to a behemoth like Fortnite is something worth commending. Especially for a game that is nearly ten years old and whose online functionality wasn’t even its original selling point like it arguably is now. All in all, the community of GTA 5 is its lifeblood, and given the staggering amount of success they’ve found with this approach, there is little reason to think that this will change about the game any time soon. So when it’s all said and done the community inside of Grand Theft Auto Online is far and away the most important part of why gamers love it so much and continue to flock to it in droves.

Of course, we can’t talk about Grand Theft Auto without giving a mention to the insane amount of control and customization that it affords the players. Even today, with games that tout their customization and freedom as their main selling points, nothing has really come close to GTA 5. It’s true that this has been a staple of the franchise for a long time. Changing your character’s outfits, how they look, what sort of car they drive, what sort of house they live in, and even various parameters of multiple game modes are up for tweaking to the players’ liking. This is not only a great aspect of GTA 5 in and of itself, but it’s also something that leads to an almost infinite amount of replayability for the game’s many modes. Playing through part of the game one way is fine but then you can do it again in an entirely different way and with an entirely different character or with an entirely different sort of vehicle which can completely change the experience from top to bottom. So when you really factor in the sheer amount of things to do in Grand Theft Auto Online and the sheer amount of ways to play all of those modes with all of the customization options in front of you it’s hard to describe it as anything other than limitless. It might not literally be limitless but seeming that way is about as good, and GTA 5 does that in all the right ways.

There really is nothing on the market quite like Grand Theft Auto Online. From the staggering amount of things to do and wide array of ways to do them, it’s an experience that just has to be played to be believed. No website article could ever really do the depth of the experience justice. You just need to dive in and see for yourself. While getting the amount of cash you need to really get to the good stuff can be a bit of a grind, especially if you’re trying to avoid spending more real-world money in the game, the game provides such a gargantuan amount of things to do and ways to explore that you could just as well quit thinking about the grind and just have fun while the metrics your looking to fill ultimately take care of themselves. While you might not really get what Grand Theft Auto Online is all about by looking at it from the outside, once you dive in, it’s impossible to not see why the game has stuck around and remained so relevant for so long.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Grand Theft Auto 5 has enjoyed far greater success than anyone could have predicted when it launched, even for a GTA game, and GTA Online has been hugely responsible for that continued, enduring success. Of course, that’s come at the cost of something, with Rockstar having not only taken their sweet time to getting to the next mainline game in the series, but also having roundly ignored post-launch single player expansions, contrary to what happened with GTA 4.

If Rockstar North’s director of design Tarek Hamad’s words are anything to go by though, that’s not necessarily indicative of what the future holds for the company. Speaking with GQ, Hamad says that Rockstar “absolutely” intends to keep making single player stories for players to experience.

In fact, some of it might even drop in GTA Online itself, similar to the recent Heist update, which delivers a blend of solo and multiplayer content. “I think you can see that with Online and I think going forward we’re going to inject more of that single-player element in there,” said design director Scott Butchard.

GTA Online, of course, shows no signs of stopping down. GTA 5 is releasing on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2021, and when it does, it will arrive with new, exclusive content.

Meanwhile, reports have also claimed that Grand Theft Auto 6 is in development, and that it will allegedly launch as a relatively medium-scale game, with Rockstar intending to add to it with post-launch updates.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is over seven years old at this point, and a new mainline game in the series is long overdue. The fact that there has been no single player DLC for GTA 5, with Rockstar instead focusing completely on GTA Online, has only made the wait that much more unbearable. However, it’s possible that Rockstar could be teasing the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6.

Rockstar recently teased the new location they’ll be adding to GTA Online on Twitter. Curiously enough, the teaser has coordinates at the bottom of the screen. As discovered over on ResetEra, when you input these coordinates in Google Maps, you’ll see an image of a location that shows a road that’s shaped very distinctly like the roman numeral VI. Check it out below.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that this isn’t the tease we seem to think it is, but it seems a bit too specific for that to be the case. We have seen GTA 6 popping up in resumes earlier this year, while reports have also claimed that the game is in development and will launch as a mid-sized released, with more content to be added on in post-launch updates.

Grand Theft Auto 5, meanwhile, is showing no signs of slowing down, and currently stands at 135 million units sold worldwide. Next year, it will also be receiving a PS5 and Xbox Series X/S port, which will also bring exclusive GTA Online content.

pic.twitter.com/kXXJbR4u1n

— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) November 19, 2020

The Diamond Casino is a location in Grand Theft Auto 5’s online component, GTA Online, that has remained closed for as long as it’s been around, but with the game’s latest update, Rockstar have opened it up to all players- and while some are excited about the prospect of its opening and about being able to participate in new activities, many have pointed out its problematic nature.

A standard membership to the casino costs GTA$500. GTA$ can, of course, be purchased within the game using real money- which means that you can purchase chips to gamble in the virtual casino using real money as well. That can be problematic in and of itself, given that it’s literally gambling, and the fact that GTA 5 and its online component have a huge teenage audience (even though the game is officially rated as an 18+ title).

What’s even more problematic, however, is that you can’t cash out. Your winnings are restricted to in-game items and currency, and there is, of course, no way of converting this to real money. So you can spend real money to buy chips, but you don’t get any real-world winnings- which, many would argue, makes it even worse than real gambling (though it should be noted that there is a limit on how many chips you can purchase in the casino per hour, while you can also receive daily visit bonuses of a thousand chips).

Casinos and virtual gambling in games is by no means new – the likes of Yakuza, Red Dead Redemption, Dragon Quest, Pokemon, Grand Theft Auto itself, and countless other titles have featured gambling mini-games in the past – but the double whammy of having the option for real-money transactions and having no real payouts makes this problematic.

Rockstar hasn’t yet commented on the matter, but we’ll keep you updated in case there are any new updates.

Not too long ago, we received reports that numbers for Red Dead Online were floundering, especially when compared to the behemoth that is GTA Online, but during their recent conference call in their financial meeting for the final quarter of financial year 2018-19, Take-Two Interactive provided updates that suggest otherwise.

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has confirmed that Red Dead Online has been performing very well for the company (though did not provide any metric by which said success is being measured). How well, exactly? Apparently, it’s performing better than Grand Theft Auto Online launch aligned. “Red Dead Online is performing better than Grand Theft Auto Online did at the same stage of the game,” said Zelnick.

That success, it seems, will only continue to grow, as Zelnick also announced that Red Dead Online will be going out of the beta stage it has been in since its soft launch in November of last year and releasing in full by the end of the current quarter- which means Red Dead Online will launch in full by June 30th. That launch will come with “significant new content”, including “gameplay balancing and bug fixes”.

Take-Two Interactive also provided updated sales figures for both Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto 5, and it’s safe to say that both games have continued to sell well (though Red Dead in particular does seem to have slowed down). Meanwhile, in related news, speculation for a PC release of Red Dead Redemption 2 recently sparked up again, when the version popped up on a former Rockstar employee’s resume. Read more on that through here.