GTA 5 has been announced as a new Xbox Game Pass addition four times since 2020. On April 15, 2026, it will leave the service for the fifth time.
The current run began in April 2025, making it the longest single stretch the game has spent on the platform. Previous stints lasted between three and six months. The pattern is identical on PlayStation's PS Plus Extra, where the title appeared and disappeared in 2023, 2024, and 2025. No other game has matched this frequency across major subscription services.
That imbalance means neither platform can guarantee continuity for third-party titles at Rockstar's commercial scale. First-party games are a different matter. Xbox and PlayStation control their own catalog titles directly. For a game as commercially dominant as GTA 5, the negotiating dynamic runs the other way.
The April 15 removal includes Ashen, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery alongside GTA 5, though none carry the same subscription history.
The same cycle applies to Red Dead Redemption 2, which also appears periodically on Xbox Game Pass and PS Plus Extra. For both titles, purchasing outright is the only way to avoid the removal cycle.
Source: Xbox