5 Tips for a Successful GTA Online Gaming Session with Friends

After a long day of classes and assignments, sometimes all you want is to drop your bags and join your friends online for an evening of games. Having fun with your friends is a perfect way to unwind from the stress the day may have caused, and GTA Online has lately become my favourite way to do so. The task, however, is not as simple as just playing the game - but to make each session enjoyable for you and your friends. Read on for 5 tips to have a successful GTA Online game night with your friends! 

1. Find Yourself a Seasoned Veteran 

Having a friend who’s been around the block can be a great help, especially if you’re new to the game. I only started playing GTA last year, and when considering that the game was initially released in 2013, there was a lot of learning to do. Trying to learn how the game works, with its many intricacies and hidden details on your own can quickly become overwhelming, and having someone there to help you along the way can feel like a buoy in a sea of confusing information. 

2. Friends Who Heist Together, Stay Together 

To my friends and I, the most fun and rewarding part of the game is completing heists together. These heists consist of a series of missions and sub-missions that are all used to build up to and set up for a main event: the heist. These heists require your friend group to use communication to maneuver through many tough scenarios that need to be completed stealthily while also on a time crunch. These heists are more often high risk, high reward, so the stakes will be high, but so will the fun levels. In an article describing the benefits of the different heists, Sportseekda.com describes most of the heists as fairly short with a decent payout, meaning you can grind them out to accumulate a fortune in a short period of time. 

3. Get Matching Cars 

A personal favourite feature of mine, but also something I feel is crucial when playing alongside your friends is driving in style together. The cars you get can range from GTA versions of the basic minivan to the top racecars of the modern age, but no matter the type of car, your team should rock the same model. As for your personal paint jobs, decals, and accessories though, this is where each individual’s personality can shine through. Everyone should choose their favourite colours or the ones that match their characters' outfits the best, allowing everyone to roll out looking cohesive. 

This is a screenshot taken of me and my friends on GTA Online with all of our matching GB200s.

4. Join a “Closed Friend Session” 

Like in any game, GTA Online has its flaws. There are public servers that are more often than not filled with modders and hackers who can negatively affect your gaming experience. These cheaters can and will wreak havoc on you and your friends by continuously targeting them, stealing your hard-earned money, or even forcing your character to go places unwillingly. As bothersome as modders can be, hackers can cause more harmful mayhem. According to Polygon.com, in an article about a major security vulnerability that was discovered in the game’s code, these hackers may be able to “remotely add, remove, and modify your stats, or even permanently corrupt your account". The article also describes a hack called “God mode”, named for its ability to make you near God like in the game: removing the cooldowns on certain actions on a weapon, resetting other players’ progress, or even making yourself literally invulnerable. A closed session, however, can remove the worry of any harm being done to you or your friends by outside sources by creating a server for only you and anyone who you are friends with on the Rockstar platform. 

 This is a screenshot image from Rockstar's Support Twitter/X account regarding the hackers causing a commotion at the beginning of 2023, they continue to cause ruckus to this day.

5. Snack, Relax, and Stay Hydrated 

Despite all the ‘serious’ tips laid out throughout the article, remember that at the end of the day, it's just a game! I find that the best gaming sessions go hand in hand with good snacks and drinks. An essential I keep with me is my insulated water bottle full of ice-cold water. Occasionally, a bowl of All-Dressed Chips and some dip may also appear on my desk, but everyone has their own snack of choice.  

I hope that these tips can bring you and your friends’ gaming sessions to greater heights than ever before. Remember that spending time with your friends can be a perfect way to unwind after a long day and also serves as a great way to make good memories with the people you’re close to!