Rockstar under fire as millions of GTA Online players are locked out of fan-favorite feature ahead of GTA 6
Having earned a notorious reputation for crossing moral and legal lines in its lawless gameplay, Grand Theft Auto has now been hit with a major blow as legislation in some of the biggest countries has ruled that one gameplay feature skirts too far beyond the grey area it operates in.
Lawlessness is in its name, but GTA goes much further beyond the realms of car robberies, as the millions of players who have enjoyed any of the last five games will have realised.
From bank heists to underground exotic clubs, there's no shortage of questionable activities going on, and these are only set to ramp up ahead of GTA 6.
However, millions of GTA Online users have been locked out of one of the most frequently-used features in the game, as Australia becomes the latest country to put a padlock on the Casino District.
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Popular features such as the daily Lucky Wheel have been banned, leaving the Diamond Casino as a 'useless' area in the massive world.
Why has the GTA Online casino been banned?
First introduced to GTA Online back in 2019, the Diamond Casino and its surrounding district in Southern San Andreas came with ways of wagering in-game currency on tables like Roulette, Blackjack, and Three Card Poker.
The free daily Lucky Wheel spins have been a staple for users running low on funds, offering up cash rewards or exclusive special prizes.
However, reportedly due to new online safety and age assurance rules in Australia, these in-game gambling minigames have been banned - Although this hasn't been confirmed as the official reasoning why yet.
While gambling is often allowed in games, even dating back to wagering a few coins on Mario Party, GTA Online's in-game currency can be bought with a feature called Shark Cards, which effectively means players are wagering their own money on the games.
The features were silently removed as of July 28, as players flocked to social media with mass confusion and aggravation.
"Ahhh Australia, can’t fake gamble on a game but get nothing by gambling adds on sports programming lol," one fan said on Reddit.
A second player added, "Crazy how you can bet your life savings on your irl phone through sports betting apps, but you can’t gamble fictional currency on a rated 18+ game."
A third fan pointed out that you can still access some of the casino features, but to little avail.
"Buying and selling chips is still available, but it’s next to useless," they added.
Australia's recent stance means it joins the likes of Saudi Arabia, China, Thailand, and Greece to ban in-game Casino activities.
With eyes turning to GTA 6 this November, this gambling legislation comes as one of many threats against in-game content bans, such as the potential lawsuits against 'immoral content'.
What this means for GTA 6 players
Grand Theft Auto VI falls into a strange place for these laws too, as it's been largely hinted at that the Online servers will allow people to make real-life money through their virtual property. The means of which haven't been revealed, but various high-profile streamers have claimed as much.
But what will be for certain is that if GTA 6 features a like-minded Lucky Wheel that works on a currency that can be topped up by real money, then it will continue to be banned by these countries.
What's more is that GTA 6 will continue to implement the new age verification rules, which could result in a huge proportion of gamers being locked out of the game entirely.
So far, the GTA 6 map hasn't shown much in the way of casino activity, but we'll be sure to keep an eye out for the slot machines in upcoming trailers.
In-game gambling has been a constant area of discussion in government houses around the world, with titles like FIFA (now EA Sports FC) and Overwatch having to change their random-generated loot boxes in certain countries; effectively, if you need to pay real money for RNG-based rewards, this was seen as gambling in countries such as Belgium.