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GTA Online PS3 and Xbox 360 servers to permanently shut down this year

Rockstar Games will take the PS3 and Xbox 360 GTA Online servers down for good later this year.

June 16, 2021 7:40 AM

Grand Theft Auto 5 has been nothing short of a phenomenon in the 8 years since its release, gaining worldwide popularity and rising to become one of the best-selling games of all time. Though the game has seen several major updates, changes, and ports, it originally launched as a PS3 and Xbox 360 game back in 2013. Now, an era is coming to an end, as Rockstar Games has announced the PS3/Xbox 360 GTA Online servers will be shutting down permanently later this year.

Rockstar Games announced that it would be shutting down GTA Online servers for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in a news post to its official website.

Once the servers are taken offline, PS3 and Xbox 360 players will still be able to enjoy the game’s single-player campaign, but GTA Online will be no more. With Grand Theft Auto 5 seeing tremendous success on the PS4 and Xbox One, and with an enhanced version of the game set to launch for the PS5 and Xbox Series X this fall, it’s easy to forget that it all started back on the PS3 and the Xbox 360. It certainly feels like the end of an era.

GTA Online servers for the PS3 and Xbox 360 will permanently shut down on December 16, 2021. However, players can continue their online escapades by upgrading to either the PS4/XBO or the PS5/XSX versions of the game. For more news on Rockstar Games, as well as everything GTA 5, stick with us here on Shacknews.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

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Shacknews

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June 16, 2021 7:40 AM

Donovan Erskine posted a new article, GTA Online PS3 and Xbox 360 servers to permanently shut down this year
- Masem
  
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  June 16, 2021 7:15 AM
  
  Finally, Rockstar will stop milking its cash cow. GTA Online shutting down, but just for Xbox 360/PS3 in December.
  
  https://www.polygon.com/22536651/grand-theft-auto-online-shutting-down-ps3-xbox-360
  - ryuuseki
    
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    June 16, 2021 7:26 AM
    
    Had no idea it was still running for that gen. Wild.
  - Proximate Cause
    
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    June 16, 2021 8:01 AM
    
    Damn, it was looking to be a game that would support PS3, PS4, and PS5 online play. lol a three generation game.
    - ThomW
      
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      June 16, 2021 8:07 AM
      
      It will -- for a month -- since the PS5/Xbox Series version comes out on November 11.
      - Proximate Cause
        
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        June 16, 2021 8:14 AM
        
        Haha nice!
  - ErneX
    
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    June 16, 2021 8:18 AM
    
    What a beast this game, it's still charting in the top when there a no big game releases.
    - r_picmip 5
      
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      June 16, 2021 8:20 AM
      
      Wasn't there conjecture that it was being propped up by rampant money laundering with the Shark cards? Did that ever pan out?
      - ErneX
        
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        June 16, 2021 8:21 AM
        
        wow I never heard of that, I think it keeps selling because almost every one that buys a console either new or old gets the game.
  - Maddog_Delphi97
    
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    June 16, 2021 8:19 AM
    
    I didn't know they had support for the 360. I thought they shut that down last year or something like that.
    http://chattypics.com/files/shackbrowseUpload_kv7e8eubqr.gif
    - ErneX
      
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      June 16, 2021 8:23 AM
      
      that game felt so next gen when I played it on the 360, I need a new GTA
      - at0micgarden
        
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        June 16, 2021 8:36 AM
        
        It’s kinda crazy how there was no new GTA game for the entire last generation of consoles.
        
        ErneX
        
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        June 16, 2021 8:40 AM
        
        yeah, but RDR2 was great, these games require more and more resources they must been working on the next one for some years already. But it's true we went from 2 GTAs on the 360 to 0 on last gen.
        
        Maddog_Delphi97
        
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        June 16, 2021 9:45 AM
        
        Rockstar makes so much money from Grand theft Auto v that it literally doesn't need to do anything else.
        http://chattypics.com/files/shackbrowseUpload_o9j8dlyzc8.gif
        
        ErneX
        
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        June 16, 2021 9:48 AM
        
        lol but another is coming, maybe they try to repeat 5 and release at the end of this gen
        
        Maddog_Delphi97
        
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        June 16, 2021 9:54 AM
        
        I sort of think they won't repeat the success of GTA V online. People may or may not hanging out with strangers who managed to reverse engineer the binaries to make it shoot money at you.
        
        I'd call them hackers but it's something more basic than that. They annoy me to no end.
        
        https://i.imgur.com/kOgGviJ.jpg
        
        Maddog_Delphi97
        
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        June 16, 2021 10:04 AM
        
        Maybe we should call them Money Cheaters or something.
        http://chattypics.com/files/MoneyCheatsInGTAVAreSoAnnoying_meciifub4c.png
        
        Maddog_Delphi97
        
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        June 16, 2021 10:20 AM
        
        Money cheaters, wife beaters and script kiddies
        https://i.imgur.com/fka3OUd.jpg
        Money Bags
        Out of nowhere, he spawned these. Each one is worth $40,000. The final amount totalled to around $60,000,000.
        https://i.imgur.com/PgU9SGg.jpg
        Clones
        Who are these sexy fellas? Oh, me, right. They didn't do much. Just kinda stood there until he spawned a wild boar and things got messy.
        https://i.imgur.com/t2LgDNt.jpg
        Piggy Back
        It appears I have a passenger. He wouldn't get off.
        https://i.imgur.com/tiA9AEy.jpg
        UFO
        I have no words for this.
        https://i.imgur.com/zwviN08.jpg
        The Flying Bus
        It was a bus, a plane, a submarine and a tank. Oh and it could fire rockets.
        https://i.imgur.com/vQCcjNU.jpg
        Neil, Take The Wheel
        He turned into an astronaut. Nothing more to say here. The car didn't take us to the moon, though.
        https://i.imgur.com/Oj0l7Rn.jpg
        Chrome Cars
        Like King Midas, everything he touched turned to gold. Well, chrome. Same thing, right?
        Although I don't condone his actions, it was nice to find one of these people not interested in simply blowing up everyone on the server.
  - Dravenport
    
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    June 16, 2021 8:46 AM
    
    so theyre not gonna stop milking anything lol
  - i38warhawk
    
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    June 16, 2021 9:23 AM
    
    Imagine how sad those players will be.
  - FirstPersonCooter
    
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    June 16, 2021 9:51 AM
    
    What am I going to play now???
  - gokart.
    
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    June 16, 2021 10:14 AM
    
    i guess holiday is when publishers are confident most people will have a chance to buy the new consoles.
  - The Grolar Bear
    
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    June 16, 2021 11:02 AM
    
    In my dreams I fantasize about the single player DLC and how it was magically more profitable for them.
- EnhancedInterrogator
  
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  June 16, 2021 1:03 PM
  
  It'd be interesting to hear the player count and how much revenue they were still pulling in from the those two systems
- Waverider
  
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  June 16, 2021 6:54 PM
  
  X360 is done. Halo is finished up on the platform, too, at year end.
  - tangles
    
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    June 16, 2021 7:59 PM
    
    I still use mine to play All Pro Football. Such a great game. It's the most recent console I own.
  - Masem
    
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    June 16, 2021 9:34 PM
    
    As long as there's some game with ad hoc networking on the 360, it will stay alive. Remember how long Halo 2 lasted on OG Xbox?
- valcan_s
  
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  June 16, 2021 10:43 PM
  
  I am dying to see Next Gen GTAV!!!!!! Maybe the PS show in July will have it!!!???? Probably next year at the latest hey :(