That was the case when GTAV launched, but GTAO has been available as a free standalone game for at least a couple years now.

I don’t care for it myself, but I can see the appeal. The core gameplay of GTAO is solid and very driven by emergent socialization and competition, so it’s no big surprise people spend way too much money on it.

But hey, if those whales are financing the development of GTAVI, I can live with it.