GTA 6 Online will be unplayable for millions of players

This article was updated by Andrea Trama on 19 March 2026 and mentions the penalties imposed on online stores and services that do not enforce the new age verification codes. It was first published on March 11.

Grand Theft Auto 6 will be affected by Australia's new verification law, which will mean millions of players will not be able to access the new game's online multiplayer mode. Grand Theft Auto 6 is potentially the most anticipated new game release of all time, and it will make a huge impact when it launches later this year.

Although it was first officially announced several years ago, Rockstar Games has been largely silent about it Grand Theft Auto 6 and all it brings to the table. So far only two Grand Theft Auto 6 trailers have been released by Rockstar, and both have focused exclusively on the game's single-player experience. The GTA 6 single player campaign will feature dual protagonists in the form of Lucia Caminos and Jason Duval as they navigate the criminal underworld of Vice City and the state of Leonida (the GTA the Florida equivalent of the universe) at large.

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GTA 6 will be affected by Australia's New Age verification rules

Given the staggering success of GTA onlineit is a guarantee that Grand Theft Auto 6 will have online multiplayer, although the mode has not yet been revealed. It is possible to GTA 6 online multiplayer will be added sometime after the singleplayer launch, like what we saw with GTA 5but it has not yet been clarified. Whenever GTA 6 online is out, we know that people in Australia will have a much harder time accessing it than those elsewhere in the world. Australia's new age verification rules already affect the current one GTA onlineand so they will undoubtedly be a factor for GTA 6is online too. The age verification requirement means that anyone who is not at least 18 years old will not be able to play the game online. Likewise, those who are 18+ but unable or unwilling to verify their age in the region will also be locked out of the game Grand Theft Auto 6s online multiplayer mode.

GTA 6's single player mode is not expected to be affected by age verification requirements.

PC gamers worldwide will also be missing out initially

Age verification requirements for various things are slowly becoming a reality worldwide, so it's entirely possible that players outside of Australia will also struggle to play GTA 6 on-line. But there are reasons beyond age verification that millions of players won't be able to play GTA 6s online multiplayer mode. When Grand Theft Auto 6 launching on November 19th, it will only do so on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. This is extremely disappointing for PC gamers, but many assumed it would be the case anyway, given Rockstar's track record of releasing games on PC.

It's worth noting that with Australia's new verification codes, online service providers and stores can be fined up to $49.5 million (AUD) if they don't comply. This likely won't affect Rockstar with GTA 6, but it could make online play and even online presence much more limited across the board for millions of players.

Grand Theft Auto 6The PC port has yet to be officially announced, so it's hard to say exactly when it will hit the platform. Grand Theft Auto 5 didn't come to PC until two years after it was first released on PS3 and Xbox 360, and it took over a year for Red Dead Redemption 2 to make the jump. It is entirely possible that PC gamers will be able to play GTA 6 2027, but it's also entirely within the realm of possibility that the PC port won't arrive until 2028 or later.

Whenever GTA 6 coming to PC, it will mean that its online multiplayer is suddenly available to millions more players. But unless some laws change, the age verification requirements will still apply, which it does GTA 6s online multiplayer completely unavailable to millions, or otherwise harder to access. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact these new laws not only have on GTA 6but other M-rated online video games released in the coming years.