one free month of gta plus is not a bonus it is onboarding
A free month attached to a preorder is not generosity. It is the cleanest possible way to put a subscription inside the launch ritual.
You install the game, redeem everything, see the extra tab and spend a month getting used to whatever GTA+ unlocks. Then the useful stuff starts feeling normal and cancellation feels like losing something. That is the whole point.
Maybe GTA+ will be harmless. Maybe it will only be cosmetics and convenience. But nobody gives away the first month because subscriptions are difficult to sell after the habit already exists. They give it away because the habit is the product.
a month is long enough for the group to build its routine around the extra benefits
i can already hear myself saying it is only one more month because the crew is still playing
the first month is free because the second month is the business model
the dangerous perk is early access, not free items. a group subscribes the moment one friend gets the new activity first
free month works because month two feels like continuing something instead of starting a subscription. tiny brain trick, very effective.