Rockstar today decimated the vehicle pool of Grand Theft Auto Online, having removed over a quarter of all previously available cars and motorcycles from its hit game. The move that's already causing fan backlash arrived as part of the massive San Andreas Mercenaries update which hit Grand Theft Auto Online on June 13.
Apart from a plethora of new content, the San Andreas Mercenaries update also promised to introduce many quality-of-life improvements to GTA Online, as per its June 2 announcement. Rockstar detailed a portion of those changes two days later, which is when it first mentioned the plan to remove some "lesser-used" vehicles from the in-game shops in an effort to "streamline" the overall browsing experience. Some fans immediately took that as a cause for concern, although the online backlash against the changes only started gaining momentum once the scope of these cuts became evident with the release of San Andreas Mercenaries.
A list compiled by GTA Forums user MGgames100 revealed that Rockstar ended up removing 194 vehicles from the GTA Online shops as part of the newly launched update. Prior to the release of San Andreas Mercenaries, GTA Online peaked at 722 vehicles, according to third-party tracker GTA Base. Meaning that the latest update stopped direct distribution of approximately 27% of the game's vehicle pool. While the developers previously said that the culling will be based on a lack of usage, some fairly popular vehicles such as the Comet SR and Cheburek have also been removed from the in-game shops as part of the new update.
A portion of the player base also seems skeptical about Rockstar's claim that this move was driven by a desire to improve the in-game shopping experience. Seeing how the developer already confirmed the pulled vehicles will eventually return via event showrooms and remain available as gambling rewards from The Lucky Wheel, some fans interpreted their removal from GTA Online shops as an anti-consumer move meant to monetize the game more aggressively. Others took this as yet another signal that GTA 6 is bound to have real money transactions.
Seeing how the newly removed vehicles can still be purchased from other players, this development will plausibly impact the typical recommendations for the best GTA Online cars to sell, not least because artificial scarcity has a tendency to drive up prices. For clarity, the used car market in GTA Online is only available on PC and current-generation consoles. Players on supported platforms can access it by visiting the Los Santos Car Meet (LSCM) building on Popular Street in East Los Santos.
Grand Theft Auto Online is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: GTA Forums, GTA Base
