Key takeaways
- Judas (Ghost Story Games) — a narrative-driven shooter from the studio led by Ken Levine, announced years ago with no dated release.
- Project Orion (CD Projekt Red) — the follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077, confirmed as in development; expect a dense city rather than GTA’s driving-and-crime loop.
- DokeV (Pearl Abyss) — an open-world creature-collecting action game; the traversal and city art have drawn GTA comparisons, but the loop is not crime-based.
- Crimson Desert (Pearl Abyss) — a large open-world action title that has been shown repeatedly while its window shifted.
If you want the closest thing to GTA that’s actually on the horizon, the answer is Grand Theft Auto VI — every other game here matches GTA on one or two axes and falls short on the rest. The practical way to plan is to split the field into three groups: Rockstar’s own next entry, the open-world driving games already on sale that keep getting seasonal updates, and the smaller co-op crime sandboxes that scratch the heist itch while you wait. What follows is what each one actually delivers, with the numbers that decide whether it fits your play pattern.
Our top picks
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Quick comparison: the GTA-alikes worth tracking
Map areas below are community measurements, not official figures — publishers rarely publish them and they change with expansions. Player counts refer to the standard public online session, not private lobbies.
| Pick | Best for | Key specs | Price range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto VI (Rockstar Games) | Best overall match | Single-player crime sandbox plus a separate online mode; console-first; map size not published by the studio | $70–$80 |
| Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown (Nacon / KT Racing) | Best driving-first alternative | Near-1:1 recreation of Hong Kong Island (the real island is about 78 km²); persistent shared world; seasonal content | $40–$60 |
| The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower) | Best big-map cruising with an active player base | Scaled Oahu; car, bike, boat and plane switching; annual seasons; always-online | $40–$70 |
| Den of Wolves (10 Chambers) | Best co-op heist fix | Squad-based heist shooter in a corporate sci-fi city; announced, no dated window | TBA (expect $40–$70) |
| Mafia: The Old Country (Hangar 13 / 2K) | Best story-driven crime campaign | Linear campaign with open hubs, roughly 12–15 hours; period setting; no free-roam chaos sandbox | $40–$50 |
Best overall match: Grand Theft Auto VI
GTA VI is the only entry on this list that is trying to do all of it at once: a dense modern city, a surrounding state to drive through, on-foot shooting, a property and vehicle economy, and a separate online mode that will run for a decade. Rockstar has shown the setting and the two leads, but has not published a map size, a frame-rate target, or a final date that has held — the window has moved more than once, so don’t build a purchase plan around a specific day.
Who it suits: anyone who wants the whole package and is willing to wait for it. Main trade-off: the wait itself, plus the historical pattern that Rockstar’s PC versions arrive after the console releases. If your only gaming machine is a PC, plan for a second window rather than a simultaneous one.
Best driving-first alternative: Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown
Solar Crown is the closest thing to GTA’s driving loop without the crime systems. It recreates Hong Kong Island at close to 1:1 scale — the real island is roughly 78 km², so the road network is genuinely large rather than a loop with scenery. The structural feature most GTA-likes lack is the persistent shared world: you are on the map with other players rather than loading into a lobby, which is what makes cruising feel populated.
Who it suits: players who spend most of their GTA time in cars and want an endless supply of road. Main trade-off: there is no meaningful on-foot crime loop. It is a driving game with an open world, not an open world with driving, and its launch-era technical reputation is still being repaired by patches.
Best big-map cruising with an active player base: The Crew Motorfest
Motorfest takes the scaled-island approach — a condensed Oahu rather than a 1:1 recreation — and lets you swap between car, bike, boat and plane without leaving the map. That vehicle switching is the part that feels most GTA-adjacent, because GTA’s world only works when the transition between transport types is frictionless. It also has the largest ongoing player base of the driving-focused picks, which matters for anything with ranked events and seasonal playlists.
Who it suits: players who want a populated world and frequent new content over simulation depth. Main trade-off: the handling model is firmly arcade, there are no crime systems at all, and the game requires an internet connection even for solo driving. If your connection is unreliable, that is a hard blocker.
Best co-op heist fix: Den of Wolves
10 Chambers, the studio behind GTFO, has announced a sci-fi heist game built around a small squad planning and executing robberies in a corporate city — the pitch being planning, tools, a crew and an escape route. Mechanically that is the nearest cousin to GTA Online’s heist missions, which remain the most-replayed part of GTA’s online side. It is announced with no confirmed release window, so treat it as something to watch rather than something to schedule around.
Who it suits: groups of three or four who already play together and want coordinated objectives rather than solo free-roam. Main trade-off: squad-dependent design means it is a poor fit if you usually play alone, and an undated game can slip by a year or more.
Best story-driven crime campaign: Mafia: The Old Country
The latest Mafia entry from Hangar 13 and 2K trades the open sandbox for a tight, cinematic crime story with open hubs between missions. The campaign runs roughly 12–15 hours, which is short by open-world standards and long by linear-action standards.
Who it suits: players who liked GTA’s missions more than its free-roam, and who want a beginning, middle and end rather than an endless live service. Main trade-off: you cannot wander off and cause chaos. Driving and shooting exist to serve the story, and once the credits roll there is nothing to return to.
The watch list: announced, no firm window
- Judas (Ghost Story Games) — a narrative-driven shooter from the studio led by Ken Levine, announced years ago with no dated release.
- Project Orion (CD Projekt Red) — the follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077, confirmed as in development; expect a dense city rather than GTA’s driving-and-crime loop.
- DokeV (Pearl Abyss) — an open-world creature-collecting action game; the traversal and city art have drawn GTA comparisons, but the loop is not crime-based.
- Crimson Desert (Pearl Abyss) — a large open-world action title that has been shown repeatedly while its window shifted.
Treat all four as watch items, not purchase plans. The consistent pattern over the last several years is that a title without a dated trailer is at least a year away, and often more.
How to choose: match the game to your play pattern
Don’t pick by trailer quality. Pick by three numbers: your typical session length, how many friends you can reliably get online at the same time, and how much of your GTA time is on foot versus behind the wheel.
| Your situation | What to pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Solo player, 1–2 hour sessions, PC only | Mafia: The Old Country, then wait on GTA VI | A 12–15 hour campaign fits short sessions and needs no online connection |
| Solo player, long sessions, want driving | Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown | Near-1:1 island scale rewards long drives; persistent world keeps it populated |
| Three or four friends, fixed weekly slot | Den of Wolves (when dated) | Squad heists are the format that rewards coordination |
| You want the biggest live player base now | The Crew Motorfest | Largest ongoing population among the driving picks; seasonal playlists |
| Console-first, want one purchase to last years | Wait for GTA VI | Single-player campaign plus a long-running online mode in one box |
The cost-per-hour math
A $70 single-player crime game with a 15-hour campaign works out at about $4.70 per hour of first playthrough — reasonable only if you replay it. A $50 driving game you put 150 hours into comes to roughly $0.33 per hour; add a $40 annual season pass and it rises to about $0.60 per hour. The sticker price is rarely the deciding number; the hours you realistically log are.
Storage is the second number to plan for. Modern open-world titles commonly install at 80–150 GB each. Three of them is 300–450 GB, and a 1 TB console drive leaves roughly 800 GB usable after the system partition. Budget for one external drive rather than keeping three games installed at once.
Ownership realities the trailers never mention
- Live-service worlds get switched off. The Crew (2014) was delisted from storefronts and its servers were shut down in 2024, which meant purchased copies stopped working. Every always-online GTA-alike carries that risk, and a discount price does not reduce it.
- Always-online means always-online. Motorfest requires a connection even for solo driving. If you want something that works on a plane or during an outage, a single-player campaign is the safer buy.
- Season passes expire in value, not in access. You keep the cosmetics, but the events that made them worth chasing rotate out. Buying a season pass mid-cycle usually means paying full price for half the content window.
- PC versions arrive later and mod support varies. Rockstar’s historical pattern is console-first releases, and mod ecosystems only develop after a PC launch. Plan for a second purchase window if PC is your platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the closest game to GTA that I can play right now?
For the driving half of the GTA experience, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown and The Crew Motorfest are the closest currently available matches, both built around large persistent maps and ongoing seasonal content. For the story half, Mafia: The Old Country delivers the crime-narrative tone in a much shorter, more linear package. Nothing on the market today combines free-roam driving, on-foot crime and a long-running online mode in the way GTA does.
Will GTA VI come to PC at the same time as consoles?
Rockstar has not committed to a simultaneous PC release, and the studio’s established pattern is to launch on consoles first and bring the PC version later. If a PC launch is your deciding factor, treat the PC window as separate and unconfirmed rather than assuming day-one parity. Waiting for an official platform list is safer than planning around a rumoured date.
Do any of these upcoming games have a multiplayer mode like GTA Online?
Den of Wolves is the most directly comparable, since it is built entirely around small-squad heists rather than a solo campaign with multiplayer attached. Solar Crown and Motorfest both run persistent shared worlds where you encounter other players while driving, but neither has a crime or property economy. GTA VI is expected to ship with a separate online mode, though Rockstar has not detailed its structure.
How big is GTA VI’s map compared with these alternatives?
Rockstar has not published a map size for GTA VI, so any figure you see quoted is an estimate derived from trailers. For reference, GTA V’s map is roughly 80 km² of land and water combined, Hong Kong Island in Solar Crown is a near-1:1 recreation of a roughly 78 km² real island, and Motorfest uses a scaled-down Oahu. Scale matters less than density — a smaller map with more interior spaces usually feels larger than an empty one.
Should I buy a GTA-like now or wait for the next big release?
Buy now only if the specific strength on offer is what you actually want — driving, co-op heists, or a tight crime story. If you want the full GTA package, waiting costs you nothing except time, and buying a filler title you will abandon in a month is the more expensive mistake. A useful test: if the game’s core loop were the only thing in it, would you still play for twenty hours?
How much storage should I set aside for these games?
Plan for 80–150 GB per modern open-world title, so two installed games plus their updates can easily consume 300 GB. On a 1 TB console you have roughly 800 GB usable after the system partition, which realistically fits four to five large games if you are willing to delete and redownload. An external SSD is usually cheaper per gigabyte than a second console drive.
