Report: GTA Online New Content Banned in Certain Countries Due to Gambling

gta online new content

In case you didn’t know, Grand Theft Auto 5 got a big update today that introduces a lot of new content in GTA Online, including a casino that actually allows players to gamble real world money in return for in-game currency.     While a lot of you might already be enjoying the in-game casino and whatever entertainment it brings, it seems not everyone is able to experience the GTA Online new content — and it’s not by choice.

Over on the Grand Theft Auto Online subreddit, user SlapshotTommy has compiled a list of the countries that are known to be anti-gambling, and as such, they won’t be able to experience the new content. Important to note: the players that are playing the banned countries list can see the casino and such, but they cannot interact at all based on the feedback players have posted so far.

Here’s the list of known countries and how their anti-gambling bans work. Some don’t allow online and land-based gambling, while others are OK with online gambling, and so on.

  • Afghanistan
  • Algeria
  • American Samoa
  • Argentina
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahamas
  • Bhutan
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Belarus
  • Cambodia – gambling is illegal for natives, but land-based gambling is legal for foreign visitors
  • Cayman Islands – land-based gambling is illegal, and online local casinos are banned, whereas foreign slots are not
  • China
  • Cuba
  • Cyprus – online sports betting ok with a license
  • Czech Republic – majority of online gambling is illegal (except online lottery and online sports betting)
  • Greece – some online gambling is illegal
  • Iceland – online casino gambling and online poker illegal – offline gambling is legal
  • Indonesia
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Kuwait
  • Lebanon
  • Libya
  • Luxembourg – illegal online other than sports betting and online lottery
  • Maldives
  • Mali – only legal for foreign visitors
  • Mauritania
  • Malta
  • Malaysia
  • North Korea
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Peru
  • Poland – everything but online sports betting is illegal
  • Portugal
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Singapore
  • Somalia
  • South Africa – online gambling is illegal
  • South Korea
  • Sudan
  • Syria
  • Taiwan
  • Thailand – everything but Horse Racing and the Government Lotto
  • Turkey – everything but online sports betting and online lottery is illegal
  • Tuvalu
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United States – Some, See below
  • Vietnam
  • Venezuela

States in the USA were the DLC may not work:

  • Hawaii – full gambling ban – needs confirmed

The same post mentions that there is a chance that this depends on the lobby host, stating, “One thing to consider potentially, it might depend on the lobby host. Since the game works Peer to Peer if you are connected to someone with banned gambling laws it may appear to not work for you. Hence, I’ve been asking some users in countries to try in solo / invite only sessions.”

Unsurprisingly, some ingenious players have resorted to using VPNs ( Virtual private network )  to bypass this restriction to play the new content. So far multiple PC players have confirmed that this does grant access to all the gambling activities in this update. Console players should be able to change their internet settings from their console so it can connect to a VPN, but of course you’ll need a PC to be able to achieve that. This method though has yet to be confirmed as working by anyone on console, and of course, as other users have mentioned, this VPN trick might result in bans or legal consequences from Rockstar or even your own country’s government, so proceed with caution if and when you’re doing this, alright? 

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