'GTA Online' Players Are Being Banned For Playing 'GTA 5'

Grand Theft Auto Online players are apparently being banned for the crime of enjoying a succulent bit of Grand Theft Auto V.

The single-player GTA V and its online counterpart were re-released earlier this month for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, this time as entirely separate games (previously, players would get GTA Online bundled in with GTA V). However, it would seem the ability to buy each game individually has led to some headaches.

Take a look at how the PS5 port of GTA V stacks up to some of the best mods below!

Players are currently reporting that attempting to launch GTA Online from GTA V's Story Mode on a new-gen console can somehow lead to a ban from the multiplayer game. Rockstar Intel took to Twitter to urge fans to access GTA Online from the main menu only until a fix arrives after it heard from multiple players that they'd been hit with false bans.

It's unclear what, exactly, could be causing this particular bug. Rockstar expert Tez2 believes that it's an IP ban, rather than a ban from the game itself, which is why some users are also being blocked from Red Dead Online.

"At least you could change your IP to avoid it," they write. "Something likely occurs in between transitioning from Story Mode to GTA Online that causes the servers to assume you're a malicious actor."

Rockstar has yet to officially address the error. For now, it's probably best to follow the advice and avoid launching GTA Online via Story Mode.

Topics: Rockstar Games, GTA 5