Highlights

  • GTA Online locks remote passive income collection behind the GTA+ subscription, sparking backlash among players.
  • Rockstar's decision to make quality-of-life feature exclusive to subscribers raises concerns about future updates.
  • Concerns grow over GTA 6 adopting similar subscription model.

Grand Theft Auto Online players have discovered that the game's latest update locks the ability to remotely collect passive income from owned businesses to the GTA+ subscription service. The Bottom Dollar Bounties DLC went live for Grand Theft Auto Online players on June 25, adding a brand-new bounty hunting business alongside new missions, vehicles, and more.

Since GTA 5's launch in 2013, developer Rockstar Games has regularly inundated its multiplayer component with substantial content updates, many of which add purchasable businesses to GTA Online, such as nightclubs, arcades, aircraft hangars, vehicle warehouses, and so on. Players can own these as a front for criminal activities, but some businesses also passively accrue money from their legitimate day-to-day operations. Usually, players have to go to each business individually to collect this income, which can prove to be tedious for the relatively inconsequential amount of money they make.

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However, the recent release of GTA Online's Bottom Dollar Bounties update revealed that Rockstar has made it more convenient for players to collect this passive income, albeit with a catch. As it turns out, members of the GTA+ subscription service will have an additional option in the in-game Vinewood Club app to claim their business earnings at any time, forgoing the need to separately visit the scattered businesses themselves. Unfortunately, GTA Online players who don't subscribe to GTA+ will miss out on the heavily-requested quality-of-life upgrade.

GTA Online Players Can't Claim Business Earnings Remotely Without GTA+

Locking the ability to remotely claim income behind GTA+ seems contradictory to Rockstar's prior messaging, as the studio assured players that it wouldn't make gameplay features exclusive for subscribers back when it launched in 2022. Sentiment around the service has already been somewhat negative, especially after the recent price hike for GTA+. Now, an entire quality-of-life feature being excluded from non-subscribers has led to concerns among some GTA Online players about Rockstar repeating the practice in future updates to boost the value proposition of GTA+.

Beyond GTA 5, it could also set a worrying precedent for Rockstar's upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6, which has been confirmed for a fall 2025 launch. Rockstar has yet to reveal GTA 6's online component and whether it would share any similarities to GTA Online. With the latter's current direction, however, it wouldn't be too unreasonable to presume that GTA+ would carry forward to GTA 6's online mode, potentially in an even bigger role. It remains to be seen how players will respond to that, but if the subscription's current perception is anything to go by, GTA+ will have its work cut out for it in the future.