Games like GTA Online: the best open-world multiplayer alternatives

The best game like GTA Online depends on the part of Rockstar’s formula you want to keep. Red Dead Online is the closest structural replacement: it uses another persistent Rockstar world with character progression, posse activities, missions and an economy, but moves the action to the Wild West. Saints Row (2022) is the clearest open-world crime co-op substitute for two players. PAYDAY 2 and PAYDAY 3 are better choices when heists and coordinated escapes matter more than free-roaming. Watch Dogs: Legion favors hacking and specialist recruitment, while The Crew Motorfest and Forza Horizon 5 are the strongest options for cruising and collecting vehicles with friends.

This guide compares those games against what GTA Online actually provides: a persistent character, social free-roam, vehicles, criminal missions, cooperative and competitive activities, and a large shared session. Rockstar describes GTA Online as a dynamic world for up to 30 players, playable solo or with friends, with updates added since launch. No alternative reproduces every part of that package, so the useful question is which component you value most.

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What GTA Online sets as the baseline

GTA Online combines several systems that are often separated in other multiplayer games. Your character progresses over time, you can meet friends in a shared city rather than only in a mission lobby, vehicles are central to travel and collecting, and criminal jobs range from short activities to elaborate cooperative operations. Competitive modes, businesses and other updates add reasons to return after the main missions.

That combination creates two different meanings of “a game like GTA Online.” One reader may mean a persistent online sandbox where friends can simply drive around and start activities. Another may mean a modern crime story with robbery planning and progression. A third may only want a four-person heist game. The recommendations below identify which interpretation each title serves.

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• Persistent shared world: you retain a character or profile and return to an ongoing online setting.
• Social free-roam: friends can travel, explore and cause trouble outside a discrete mission.
• Criminal or action missions: jobs provide objectives, rewards and a reason to improve your character.
• Vehicles and collecting: driving is either a major activity or a supporting part of the world.
• Co-op and competition: the game supports group activities, and sometimes rival-player modes.

The table gives the short version; the sections that follow explain the compromises in detail.

Best alternatives at a glance

Red Dead Online: the closest structural GTA Online alternative

If you want another Rockstar online world rather than a similar-looking crime game, start with Red Dead Online. It shares the underlying pattern that makes GTA Online durable: a persistent character, a world you revisit with friends, activities that pay out, and an economy that lets you develop a role over time. The setting is an open Wild West environment rather than a contemporary city.

What carries over from GTA Online

Red Dead Online uses a comparable mission grammar. You travel through a free-roaming map, take on jobs, earn money and improve your character while deciding whether to play alone or form a posse. The ESRB describes it as a multiplayer version of Red Dead Redemption 2 in an open-world Wild West environment, with combat, bounty hunting and collection missions. Those activities provide the same broad loop of choosing work, completing it and investing the rewards, even though the occupations and equipment are period-appropriate.

The game is therefore a strong fit for someone who values persistence and atmosphere more than a specific type of vehicle. It also suits players who enjoyed the deliberate mission pacing and world detail of Rockstar’s single-player western. You can roam with friends, switch between combat and activities, and build a long-term online character instead of resetting after every heist.

Where it differs

There is no modern urban traffic system to replace GTA’s constant driving. Horses and stagecoaches make movement feel slower, and the Wild West changes the tone of every encounter. A player seeking sports cars, skyscrapers, aircraft or a contemporary criminal empire will find the substitution incomplete. Red Dead Online’s content cadence also differs from GTA Online’s, so do not assume that a feature added to one game will appear in the other.

Edition and age-rating checks

Red Dead Online access depends on the Red Dead Redemption 2 edition and target platform you choose. Check the exact store description before buying rather than assuming every physical or digital package contains the online mode. The ESRB rates Red Dead Online Mature 17+ for blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, suggestive themes and in-game purchases. Those descriptors apply to the rated product, not to every online game in this guide.

PAYDAY 2 and PAYDAY 3: choose these for heists, not free-roam

PAYDAY is the better answer when “like GTA Online” means planning a robbery with friends. Both games center on cooperative, mission-instanced heists rather than a city where you can spend an evening driving without selecting an activity. You choose a job, prepare an approach, execute it and escape; the team’s communication and adaptation determine the outcome.

PAYDAY 2: the deeper legacy library

PAYDAY 2 offers a large established catalog of cooperative robberies and a mature progression structure. Its appeal is breadth: players can work through many heist scenarios, experiment with stealth or force, and refine builds for different jobs. That makes it a good value for a group that wants a long sequence of robbery missions and does not need a shared open world between them.

The trade-off is structural. There is no persistent city sandbox in which the crew can meet, collect cars or launch unrelated activities. Movement is confined to each heist’s map, and progression is tied to the mission-focused loop. If your favorite GTA Online memories are the heists themselves, this is a strength; if they are spontaneous cruising and property management, it is a limitation.

PAYDAY 3: a focused modern heist format

PAYDAY 3 is described as a four-player heist game with stealth-or-loud approaches and escape planning. The smaller, clearly defined team makes voice communication and role assignment important. A crew can decide how much preparation to do, react when a quiet plan breaks down, and coordinate the getaway instead of relying on one player to carry the objective.

Choose PAYDAY 3 when you want a contemporary heist experience and a group that will play together deliberately. Choose PAYDAY 2 when the priority is the broadest legacy heist library and a longer-established progression ecosystem. Neither should be purchased as a replacement for open-world cruising: their missions are the destination, not an activity inside a persistent social city.

Heist decision table

Saints Row (2022): the clearest open-world crime co-op substitute

Saints Row (2022) is the most direct choice for two friends who want a crime sandbox rather than a specialist heist game. Its Santo Ileso setting supports open-world roaming, criminal-empire progression and ventures that expand your organization. You can move through the campaign together and develop the empire loop instead of selecting isolated robbery missions every time you play.

Why it fits GTA Online players

The important similarity is the combination of a free-roaming city and criminal advancement. Activities feed an organization, and the world gives you reasons to leave the main path, explore and return with resources for the next stage of growth. That creates the familiar rhythm of building a criminal operation while using the city as a playground.

Co-op is designed for two players, so it works best for a pair rather than a larger crew. Before starting, decide who will host and whether both players have the same edition or platform access. The game is available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Xbox One, but the exact online-service and edition requirements should be checked on the current store page.

Trade-offs and tone

The reboot uses a more exaggerated, comedic tone than GTA Online. That can be a benefit if you want colorful characters and a less realistic interpretation of organized crime, but it may not satisfy players seeking Rockstar’s grounded satire or a large-player social session. Its two-player limit also means a four-person crew must split into separate groups or choose another recommendation.

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Watch Dogs: Legion: the hacking-first four-player option

Watch Dogs: Legion is a better fit when the fantasy is controlling a modern city’s systems rather than running a vehicle-heavy criminal economy. Its online mode is an open-world co-op experience for up to four players, built around recruiting different non-player characters as specialists. The roster changes how a team approaches objectives, so assembling the right group is part of the progression.

How the recruit system changes co-op

Instead of leveling one fixed outlaw in the GTA tradition, you can recruit people with distinct capabilities and switch between them. A team may select specialists suited to infiltration, combat or technical manipulation, then coordinate those abilities during an objective. This makes the game feel closer to a cooperative operations sandbox than to a property-and-vehicle economy.

The open world supports shared exploration and objectives, which makes it more suitable than PAYDAY for players who want to wander between activities. However, hacking is the central verb. If you mainly want garages, supercars, businesses and a long-term criminal empire, the systems will feel like a different genre even though the city is contemporary and multiplayer.

The Crew Motorfest and Forza Horizon 5: best for driving with friends

When the part of GTA Online you use most is simply meeting friends, driving across a large map and collecting vehicles, dedicated driving games are stronger alternatives than crime sandboxes. They replace robbery progression with automotive progression, but they preserve the social cruising and “what should we do next?” feeling.

The Crew Motorfest

The Crew Motorfest is an always-online driving game with eight-player co-op in the comparison information available for this guide. Its focus is a shared driving environment, vehicle variety and group activities. That makes it the natural pick for a larger crew that wants to stay together on the road rather than divide into separate missions.

It is not a criminal sandbox. There are no GTA-style businesses or heist-planning loop to serve as the center of progression, and the online requirement means your experience depends on the service being available. Check the current platform listing for the edition you are considering, any required console subscription and the rules for cross-play.

Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 is a convoy-focused open-world driving alternative with a large car economy. Its strongest match for GTA Online is the pleasure of building a collection, tuning vehicles and joining friends for spontaneous road trips or organized driving activities. Players who care more about the feel and variety of cars than about fictional crime will find a deeper automotive progression loop here.

The compromise is decisive: racing, festivals and car ownership replace criminal missions, combat and heists. A convoy can reproduce the social side of GTA Online, but it will not reproduce the tension of planning a robbery or the management of an illicit enterprise. Platform, edition and cross-play details can change, so confirm them for your group before purchase.

Driving choice table

Choose by the feature you actually use

Use this decision path before looking at individual editions. It prevents the most common mistake: buying a well-made game that matches the setting but not the activity you want to repeat.

1. Do you need a persistent Rockstar-style character and world? Choose Red Dead Online. It is the closest structural cousin, provided you are happy with a western setting and slower travel.
2. Is robbery planning the entire point? Choose PAYDAY 2 for the broad legacy catalog or PAYDAY 3 for a modern four-player heist format.
3. Do you want to roam a city while building a criminal organization? Choose Saints Row (2022), especially if your regular group is two players.
4. Do you want modern-city co-op but prefer gadgets to cars and properties? Choose Watch Dogs: Legion and build a team of complementary specialists.
5. Is driving and collecting vehicles more important than crime? Choose The Crew Motorfest for its stated eight-player co-op or Forza Horizon 5 for convoy play and a large car economy.

Online access, editions and cross-play: check before you buy

Multiplayer features are often attached to a specific edition, platform service or regional listing. The information available for these games does not establish one permanent set of prices, subscription rules or cross-play policies, and those details can change after an update. Treat the following as a purchase checklist rather than a promise that every version works the same way.

• Confirm the exact edition. For Red Dead Online, make sure the Red Dead Redemption 2 package you select includes the online mode you want. For the other games, check whether the listing is a base game, an online-only product or a bundle.
• Match platforms with your group. Saints Row (2022) is listed for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Xbox One. The other titles may have edition-specific availability; use the current store page for each platform.
• Verify cross-play instead of assuming it. A game can support online co-op while limiting play to the same console family or storefront. Confirm cross-play and cross-generation rules for every member of the group.
• Check the required online service. Console multiplayer may require the platform’s online subscription, while an always-online title also depends on the publisher’s service being available.
• Check the player count against your group. Saints Row’s co-op is for two; PAYDAY’s heists are for four; Watch Dogs: Legion supports four-player online co-op; The Crew Motorfest is described with eight-player co-op. A larger or smaller party may need a different choice.
• Read the current regional listing. Availability, age ratings, language options and included content can differ by country and edition.

Which alternative is right for your group?

For a long-running duo

Pick Saints Row (2022) if both players want an open city and a shared crime campaign. Pick Red Dead Online if you would rather inhabit a slower world and build a persistent western character. The first choice emphasizes campaign co-op and empire growth; the second emphasizes an ongoing online world.

For a four-person heist crew

Pick PAYDAY 2 when the size of the heist library and established progression matter most. Pick PAYDAY 3 when the group wants a modern, focused four-player format with stealth-or-loud decisions and coordinated escapes. Pick Watch Dogs: Legion instead if the team wants to remain in an open city between objectives and experiment with recruitable specialists.

For a driving-focused group

Pick The Crew Motorfest when staying together in a larger driving session is the priority. Pick Forza Horizon 5 when collecting, tuning and convoy-based driving matter more than an always-online social world. Neither is a substitute for criminal missions, so do not choose them expecting a heist progression loop.

Bottom line: the best GTA Online alternative by priority

Red Dead Online is the closest overall alternative because it preserves Rockstar’s persistent-world structure, mission flow, posse co-op and economy while changing the setting to the Wild West. Saints Row (2022) is the best open-world crime co-op option for two players. PAYDAY 2 and PAYDAY 3 win for dedicated heists, Watch Dogs: Legion wins for hacking-led four-player objectives, and The Crew Motorfest or Forza Horizon 5 win when social driving and vehicle collecting are the real goal. Decide which of those loops you will play every week, then verify the current edition, platform, online-service and cross-play requirements for your group.

Quick Recap

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