Rockstar Added NBA 2K26 to GTA+ and Now Everyone Thinks Basketball Is Coming to GTA 6

It took roughly twelve hours for the internet to turn a subscription promotion into a Grand Theft Auto 6 conspiracy theory.

When Rockstar Games announced that NBA 2K26 would be added to the GTA+ Games Library on March 10 for a limited window through April 20, the news itself was notable enough. Why? Because it's the first time a non-Rockstar title has appeared on the service, a subscription that has, until now, been exclusively stocked with the studio's own catalog, from Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to Bully and Red Dead Redemption.

However, this is the Grand Theft Auto community we're talking about. Everyone wasn't going to let this be just "another free game."

The speculation is not entirely baseless, even if it is almost certainly a stretch. Previously leaked, but incredibly sus and possibly false information about GTA 6, has repeatedly referenced a 3-versus-3 basketball minigame. Whether it survived the chopping block is anyone's guess, but the fact that basketball has come up multiple times across multiple independent sources means the connection to NBA 2K26 landing on GTA+ was always going to generate this exact reaction.

There is also the matter of the Miami Heat arena. The Kaseya Center, or rather its in-game equivalent, was visible in the first GTA 6 trailer, and the Vice City Mambas football stadium appeared in the September 2022 leaked footage. Rockstar clearly built sports infrastructure into Leonida's world.

Strip away the speculation though, and the NBA 2K26 addition is a straightforward corporate play. Take-Two Interactive owns both Rockstar and 2K, the publisher behind the NBA 2K franchise. It's a mutually beneficial partnership of sister franchises, even if it happens to be the first time this has happened.

For starters, GTA+ members on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S get full access to NBA 2K26 from March 10 through April 20, along with a content pack that includes 5,000 Virtual Currency, six types of Skill Boosts for five games, and a guaranteed Diamond Player Pack. An NBA 2K account is required to redeem the bonuses. Members who want to keep the game after the window closes get a 20% discount on a full purchase through their linked platform.

On the Grand Theft Auto Online side, the crossover extends to wardrobe items: the Broker Prolaps Basketball Top and Shorts, free to all active subscribers.

The timing also makes sense. GTA 6 launches in November 2026, and Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has confirmed that marketing begins this summer. GTA+ currently costs $7.99 per month, up from $5.99 in 2024. Adding a current, full-priced $70 game to the subscription, even temporarily, dramatically changes the value proposition at a moment when Take-Two has every incentive to grow the subscriber base before GTA 6 transforms the entire service.

Besides, if NBA 2K26 is a trial balloon for integrating the broader Take-Two catalog, the implications extend well beyond basketball. 2K alone publishes WWE 2K, PGA Tour 2K, the BioShock trilogy, Borderlands, Civilization, and XCOM. A version of GTA+ that draws on the entire stable would be a genuine multi-genre subscription, competing directly with Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus for attention.

Just to be clear, the NBA 2K26 promotion almost certainly has nothing to do with GTA 6's gameplay features. Unless otherwise confirmed, it's a play designed to boost GTA+ subscriptions and give NBA 2K26 a visibility bump during its Season 5 college basketball content cycle. It also reveals that Take-Two is actively experimenting with turning GTA+ into something bigger.

Whether that expansion includes streetball in Vice City is a question for November. For now, GTA+ members get a free basketball game starting Monday. What they do with the conspiracy theories is entirely up to them.