The following games embrace one or many of the aspects that have made GTA such a powerhouse of a series. From exploring a vast open-world environment to running a criminal enterprise to causing widespread mayhem in a car, each of these games offers an element that will scratch a crucial itch for any GTA fan after they’ve had their fill of the core experience.

Here are the best games like GTA 5 on Game Pass.

Just Cause 4 Reloaded

Madness and mayhem in an open-world environment are par for the course for Just Cause 4, and it is this quality that will appeal to any hardcore GTA fan. Players are placed in the shoes of Rico Rodriguez as he once again grapple-hooks his way past a host of enemies, destroying the environment with explosions and shoot-outs galore. Though definitely less realistic than a typical Grand Theft Auto game (and that is saying something), Just Cause 4 ticks a lot of the same boxes.

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Yakuza Series

Sega’s Yakuza series is overall a great recommendation for fans of GTA 5. While the Japanese games take place in much smaller open-worlds, both series offer stellar writing, memorable side content, and engaging main storylines that touch upon mature themes. Xbox Game Pass has the entirety of Sega’s main series, allowing players to experience Kiryu’s story in full, starting from the brilliant Yakuza 0 and ending with Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. Yakuza: Like a Dragon marks a new chapter in the franchise’s history, introducing a fresh protagonist, central location, and combat system.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed games are nothing like Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto. The franchises have widely different tones, gameplay loops, themes, and settings; however, the one area they overlap is in their commitment to immersion. Both series are known for crafting detailed open-worlds driven by fantastical realism. Assassin’s Creed Origins drops players into a beautifully realized rendition of Ancient Egypt, and the game’s main appeal is exploring this stunning world. GTA might prioritize fictional and modern settings over historical ones, but Rockstar takes plenty of inspiration from real-world locations. Assassin’s Creed is like the History Channel version of GTA.

Payday 2: Crimewave Edition

A co-op first-person shooter, Payday 2 revolves entirely around planning and executing heists, be it alone or as part of a team. These missions follow a narrative thread that, while not quite as complicated or fascinating as GTA 5, provides enough intrigue to keep new players hooked during their first few hours. That said, Payday 2 is ultimately about its multiplayer content, and players will be spending most of their time conducting an array of jobs ranging from traditional bank heists to prison escapes.

A Way Out (Requires EA Play)

A Way Out’s gameplay is nothing like Grand Theft Auto 5. Hazelight’s title focuses on two convicts trying to escape prison, and most segments play out like puzzles. Consequently, the game is designed for co-op too, with each player assuming the role of one of the convicts as the story plays out on split-screen. Even with all these differences, A Way Out’s narrative and characters are very reminiscent of GTA, although without the satire that defines Rockstar’s franchise. They both tell mature stories that feature, to an extent, realistic characters.

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Sea Of Thieves

In terms of visuals, gameplay, and story content, Sea of Thieves and GTA 5 have almost nothing in common. However, there is one area where the two games overlap: they both let players make their own fun. While traversing Los Santos or Sea of Thieves’ expansive world filled with islands waiting to be explored, the simple act of mucking around is not only encouraged but can produce moments of pure merriment. Sea of Thieves is at its best when played with others, as forming a pirate crew and sailing the high seas in search of treasure provides endless rewards.

Fallout: New Vegas

Those looking to immerse themselves in an open world where they are free to do as they please can check out Fallout: New Vegas. This entry in the Fallout series has players traveling across the wastelands in a bid for revenge but soon has them making choices and taking on missions that will help reshape the Mojave. Players are free to make their way through the expansive open world of New Vegas as they see fit, using an array of weapons and skills to complete the dangerous tasks at hand.

With a robust story and some seedier elements that feel right at home in the Grand Theft Auto series, Fallout: New Vegas is a great FPS alternative for those that want to explore an open world with the freedom to play their way.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Releasing for the Xbox Series X/S on July 27, 2021, Microsoft Flight Simulator is just as marvelous on the consoles as it is on PC. Flying a plane might not be a huge part of GTA 5, but its inclusion highlights Rockstar’s tendency to go for broke. As awe-inspiring as it can be to take to Los Santos’ skies, GTA 5’s trips through the clouds do not compare to the unlimited splendor offered by Microsoft Flight Simulator. Jump into one of the flight sim’s many planes, pick a destination on Earth, and depart on a journey like no other offered on any console.

Watch Dogs 2

Rockstar is not the only studio that specializes in open-world projects, and Ubisoft has made a couple of its releases available on Microsoft’s subscription service. Assassin’s Creed Origins is a bit too far removed from GTA 5 for a straight-up recommendation, but Watch Dogs 2 should be able to scratch that itch. Set in a gorgeously recreated version of San Francisco, Ubisoft’s game revolves around a group of hackers who are trying to take down the city’s surveillance system. Third-person gunplay is a fixture of Watch Dogs 2, however, the gameplay primarily revolves around the player’s hacking abilities. These skills provide quite a bit of freedom in how situations can be approached.

Skyrim

Skyrim might seem like an odd fit at first, but dragons aside, it’s got a lot more in common with Rockstar’s flagship crime simulator than one might imagine — an expansive open world with a nearly absurd depth of content, impressive levels of player agency, and of course, the ability to go on unprecedented crime sprees at the drop of a hat. Or helmet, as it were. Players can even choose to literally walk the path of a career criminal if they join up with Skyrim’s Thieves Guild, though they’ll be breaking into Imperial strongholds and hurling fireballs as opposed to robbing banks guns blazing.

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Totally Reliable Delivery Service

It might seem like a preposterous suggestion at first, but if hilarious vehicular high jinks and a world with almost no boundaries were among the most tantalizing aspects of the GTA experience, then Totally Reliable Delivery Service offers those elements in spades. Up to four players can explore this adorable title as mildly incompetent delivery people — do note that said incompetence is more than slightly exacerbated by the game’s purposefully obtuse and outrageously sensitive controls. Though not as expansive as GTA 5, Totally Reliable Delivery Service offers physics-based comedy for friends to cooperatively enjoy.

Goat Simulator

One of the biggest draws for Grand Theft Auto 5 is the fact that players are free to do practically whatever they want in the open world. Although GTA 5 features a pretty dark and sometimes twisted storyline, it’s not the only game out there that gives players a veritable playground to explore.

Goat Simulator is another prime example of a game that rewards its players by throwing them into an open world and allowing them to simply do whatever they please. This release is much wackier than the GTA series, featuring wild physics, glitches, and sometimes hilariously broken gameplay. Those looking for something with unbridled freedom and comedy should be sure to give Goat Simulator a try.

Need For Speed Heat (Requires EA Play)

Xbox Game Pass has five Need for Speed games, and they all incorporate free roam or explorable maps in some form or another. EA’s racing franchise has an uneven track record when it comes to open-worlds, and the series has arguably yet to create something on the level of a Forza Horizon 5. However, 2020’s Need for Speed Heat was a step in the right direction. Inspired by Miami, Palm City is a large and varied sandbox that provides plenty of room for drivers to hit their max speeds. The game uses a day/night cycle to shake up the flow of gameplay. During the day, players can freely roam the map while taking part in races or missions. At night, the cops hit the street, making it more difficult to take part in illegal races.

Batman: Arkham Knight

Though the story of Batman: Arkham Knight is more linear in nature, its map layout and mission design will no doubt call to those who enjoy a classic GTA game. If anything, Arkham Knight just throws a gritty, superhero overtone into the popular open-world formula. And to make the comparison even more apt, this particular title in the Arkham series includes the Batmobile, which allows Batman to race around the streets of Gotham in a fashion that is reminiscent of cruising around in a car in GTA 5. Unlike GTA 5, the Arkham games focus on melee combat rather than ranged weapons, although Batman has far more tools at his disposal than just his fists.

Burnout Paradise Remastered (Requires EA Play)

If driving at a million miles a second through the streets of Los Santos is someone’s idea of a good time, then they need to head to Paradise City. Burnout Paradise adapted the acclaimed arcade racing franchise to an open-world setting, and it proved to be a match made in heaven. Paradise City is nowhere near as huge as Los Santos, but that is not a negative in this case. A significant portion of the fun derives from learning the intricacies of the map so that players can take the optimum routes during races. Burnout Paradise Remastered is the ultimate pick-up-and-play racer, as the game is accessible, packed with content, and just a lot of fun. The online modes are also worth checking out, permitting the scene is active.

Minecraft

OK, Minecraft might seem like a stretch since it doesn’t have much in common with GTA 5 when it comes to tone, story, characters, or even gameplay. Those are all valid points, however, the two beloved games share one significant thing in common: player freedom. Rockstar and Mojang’s open-world masterpieces are arguably the definitive sandbox experiences. Even though they are significantly different in most ways, ultimately, they both unleash players in a large playground and tell them to go wild. In GTA 5, that process usually involves a lot of destruction; conversely, Minecraft encourages creation. In some ways, these two games complement each other.

Crackdown 3

After being stuck in development hell for a long time, Crackdown 3 finally made its way to the Xbox One and PC, garnering a middling reception from critics. Similar to its predecessors, the 2019 sequel drops players in a relatively large sandbox and tells them to go wild, which mainly includes a lot of explosions and superpowered antics. Crackdown’s central idea is that players gain experience points (or orbs) for specific stats depending on their gameplay style; therefore, someone literally improves by playing the game. Crackdown 3 is nowhere near as expansive or ambitious as a GTA release, but it does offer an opportunity to cut loose in a sandbox that has decent verticality. The weapons are also quite fun to use.

Empire Of Sin

Given that it’s a strategy game at its core, Empire of Sin doesn’t pack many similarities in raw terms of gameplay. But if operating beyond the confines of the law happens to strike a chord in general, then Empire of Sin is worth a dig for the novelty of its setting. Slipping into the shoes of a mob boss making a name for themselves in Prohibition-era Chicago, players orchestrate their rise to power by amassing a roster of dirty businesses through a variety of means — whether by way of influence or more direct, violent methods that play out in turn-based encounters.

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Far Cry 5

Another Ubisoft special, Far Cry 5 has doomsday cults, a fictional country in Montana, and thousands of enemies who are just waiting to be gunned down. As a first-person shooter with an emphasis on action over story, this 2018 release strikes a different rhythm than Rockstar’s GTA 5; that said, both games take inspiration from and comment upon modern issues while boasting large worlds that blend fiction with reality. Far Cry 5 also has quite a bit of side content, so players can easily ignore the main quest and focus solely on messing around in the sandbox.

Forza Horizon 5

One of the greatest pleasures in GTA 5 is the simple act of driving through the streets of Los Santos and the nearby areas. While fictional, Rockstar’s world is impressively realistic; Forza Horizon 5 removes the “fictional” part. Set in Mexico, Forza Horizon 5 drops players in a gorgeous open-world packed with races to win, jumps to land, cars to discover, and cartoonish stunts to perform. Similar to GTA 5, Forza Horizon 5’s lifelike visuals hide a sandbox designed to let players be unabashedly silly. For those who prefer a trip to the UK over Mexico, Forza Horizon 4 is also on Xbox Game Pass and is nearly as good as its successor.

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