Why GTA V’s gambling controversy isn’t that big of a deal

Microtransactions are a very controversial thing in the gaming industry. Usually, for good reason as some of them are quite predatory and can really dampen a game like Star Wars Battlefront 2. Rockstar has also caught some flack over the year for the in-game economy of GTA V but now, that conversation has escalated with a new update to the game.

Today, GTA V added its mythical casino after being “under construction” for six years and it comes with a host of content including those gambling games, new missions, and luxuries such as a spa and new penthouse. By all accounts, it’s more than what you may have anticipated originally but there’s a lot of people who are very upset due to how the game handles the gambling.

When you arrive at the casino, you can walk up to the cashier area and purchase chips with your GTA money. Chips are equal to $1 and from what I have personally seen, you can only buy up to 50,000 chips at a time. From there on, you’re free to spend your chips on whatever you want within the casino.

Now, as with all gambling, you’re risking your money. You bet on games and gambling is largely centered on luck more than anything else. So, here’s where people are getting upset. Microtransactions in GTA V allow you to purchase in-game cash for a couple grand for $5 – 8 million for $100 in real money. Then, you use that cash to purchase those casino chips which can be used for gambling.

In a sense, you can pay real money to really gamble in GTA V but not get any actual real-life money in return. People are knocking Rockstar for encouraging online gambling, especially when a lot of children play the game (despite being M-rated). That said, there’s truly very little reason to actually pay to gamble in GTA V.

You can purchase just a single chip if you want, you’re not locked into pre-determined amounts to purchase. So it’s not expensive whatsoever to gamble in GTA V and all of the games allow you to bet relatively low amounts if you choose. If you want to play high-stakes, you totally can but you’re not forced to at all.

Even the store within the casino has items that are rather reasonably priced, especially when you consider if you just walk across the hall, you can earn money from slots or tables.

The new casino update also brings new online story missions which payout incredibly well. On hard difficulty, the first mission gives you $50,000 alone, enough to purchase the max amount of chips.

On top of that, slot machines stop you before you use them and present the rules as well as a percentage for the “return to player rate” so you know exactly what your chances are. Return to player (RTP) tells you how much you’ll make back overtime on your bets. If you bet $1 a hundred times with a 90% RTP, you’ll make $90 across those bets.

In GTA V’s casino, I’ve seen multiple slots with a 98.7% RTP. That doesn’t mean you have a 98.7% chance of winning every time but you have a 98.7% chance of getting your money back/profiting the longer you play.

The gambling isn’t as predatory as that of a real casino. There’s definitely a risk, you can lose and lose frequently, but the risk of losing real money isn’t high as many people seem to believe. Essentially, the casino is made accessible enough to not even tempt you to want to buy microtransactions to use it.

You can go check out the new Diamond Casino and Resort and be the judge for yourself. Load up GTA V and it’ll spawn you right in front of it to check it out.