GTA 5 is coming to your smartphone

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Doing crimes on the go, via the cloud

GTA 5
(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

Grand Theft Auto 5 is returning to Xbox Game Pass this April, having previously been made available between January and May 2020. This time, though, it’s brought a friend in the form of cloud support, allowing players to experience the game on their Android phone or tablet of choice, provided they’re subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. 

Grand Theft Auto 5 will be reintroduced to Xbox Game Pass on April 8 for console and cloud gaming specifically, and headlines a busy month ahead for the gaming subscription service. Once again, PC players will unfortunately have to look elsewhere if they’re planning to play GTA 5 anytime soon.

Other titles being added in April include, strangely, Sony's MLB The Show 21 (a day one release on Xbox Game Pass), charming indie game Rain On Your Parade and NHL 21 via EA Play among others. Most of the month’s additions will also feature cloud gaming support barring NHL 21 and the PC exclusive Pathway.

Grand Theft Android

Grand Theft Auto 5 could represent something of a watershed moment for cloud gaming on Xbox Game Pass, too. That’s especially pertinent for  the still massively popular GTA Online component, where the multitude of players could put some serious stress on Microsoft’s servers.

If Grand Theft Auto 5’s addition to Xbox’s cloud gaming service proves successful, then that could in turn encourage Rockstar to reintroduce Red Dead Redemption 2 to Game Pass, itself hopefully experimenting with cloud support along with its online counterpart Red Dead Online.

We also hope that playing GTA 5 via the cloud will benefit from 1080p image quality, a feature Microsoft tested last month for Xbox Game Pass. Because of the cloud nature, hardware shouldn't be an issue, even if you cause chaos with tons of GTA 5 cheats. Currently, cloud gaming via Game Pass is limited to just a 720p resolution. This won’t be too bad on smaller screens, but you’ll definitely notice a hit to image quality when playing on anything larger than a smartphone or tablet.

Rhys Wood
Rhys Wood
Hardware Editor

Rhys is TRG's Hardware Editor, and has been part of the TechRadar team for more than two years. Particularly passionate about high-quality third-party controllers and headsets, as well as the latest and greatest in fight sticks and VR, Rhys strives to provide easy-to-read, informative coverage on gaming hardware of all kinds. As for the games themselves, Rhys is especially keen on fighting and racing games, as well as soulslikes and RPGs.