GTA Online’s Casino banned in multiple countries due to gambling laws
GTA 5’s latest update has been a huge hit with citizens of Los Santos, but some have been left devastated to find they’re banned from playing casino games due to their countries’ gambling laws.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow for those that were eagerly anticipating the long awaited GTA Online Casino update. Entering the casino, buying a penthouse, playing missions and everything else that the new update has to offer is fine, yet it’s specifically playing casino games that some players are unable to do.
Despite using GTA dollars and not real money – which we’ll come onto in a minute – some governments still consider it gambling. Whether they are right or wrong doesn’t matter as Rockstar are always going to comply with a countries’ laws.
Players from some countries won’t be able to enjoy GTA’s online casino games…Is it really gambling though?
That’s a tricky question but in the eyes of the law, yes. GTA money, or dollars, can be directly purchased using real money and not just earned online.
This is where it becomes somewhat of a gray area as although the money can’t be converted back into real currency it does have real monetary value. As a result, it can be interpreted as gambling, albeit loosely.
Rockstar themselves may not agree with their definition of gambling but are likely taking the precautionary option of banning those countries so it can’t come back on them. As yet, the developers haven’t commented on the issue.
List of countries where GTA’s Casino games are banned
Here are the full list of countries unable to gamble in GTA 5’s online casino, according to Reddit user SlapshotTommy:
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- American Samoa
- Argentina
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Bhutan
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Belarus
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- Cayman Islands
- China
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Ecuador
- Greece
- Iceland
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Maldives
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Malta
- Malaysia
- North Korea
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Tuvalu
- United Arab Emirates
- Vietnam
- Venezuela
Don’t worry though, you can still enjoy the rest of the Diamond Casino & Resort…Is my country banned from GTA Online casino?
The above list of countries is not confirmed but if you are receiving the message “This feature is not available for you” when attempting to play casino game, then your country has likely banned you from taking part.
It should be noted there are some reports of players receiving this message when in a country where gambling is legal, though.
Players have reported that this can be bypassed by a VPN, but it should be noted it would still be illegal to do so if in fact gambling is against your countries’ laws.
Unfortunately, some GTA players will have to accept part of the Diamond Casino & Resort update won’t be available for them.