Later this year, the wildly popular online portion of Grand Theft Auto V is leaving behind the original platforms it released on two console generations ago. Rockstar Games today announced the shutdown of GTA Online on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as well as the platforms" Rockstar Games Social Club stat tracking capabilities.
While the single-player portion will remain untouched, GTA Online will become inaccessible on the two platforms starting on December 16. Before that, Rockstar will halt microtransaction purchases (Shark Cards) from September 16.
Rockstar stopped updating Grand Theft Auto V on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 way back in 2015, and the Online content has remained the same since then. Currently, the studio supports the PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 versions of the game with new content, and is also working on new "expanded and enhanced versions" for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
Another piece of bad news for players on old platforms is that there won"t be any way to transfer their in-game characters and progress to a newer device, or get refunds on Shark Card purchases. The studio did not say how many active players will this shutdown impact.
Moreover, with Social Club online services going away on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, all online features of L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3 — website stat tracking, online multiplayer, and leaderboards — on the platforms will also cease to function from September 16. Once again, the single-player campaigns will remain intact.