WebProNews

Tag: GTA Online

  • ‘Grand Theft Auto Online’ Update Brings Heists and More

    Despite the disastrous launch of Grand Theft Auto Online last year, developer Rockstar has consistently been updating the title since its release, adding features, in-game items, and generally whipping the game into playable shape. Now that the game has cultivated a community of dedicated players, Rockstar is on the verge of making some of its most major Grand Theft Auto V updates ever. The developer today announced several new updates that will be coming to Grand Theft Auto Online this spring.

    The biggest change coming to GTA Online is a feature that fans have been calling for since the game was released. Sometime this spring Heist missions will be introduced. The missions will allow players to team up and take on challenging heists for the possibility of big rewards.

    Starting with next week’s update players will be able to create their own “Capture” jobs using the job creation tools. Like the player-created deathmatch and race jobs, Rockstar will be taking the best capture jobs and featuring them as “Rockstar Verified.”

    The next big content update for GTA: Online will also be coming this spring. The “High Life” update will bring cars, motorcycles, and clothing designed for high-end GTA Online consumers and those who thought the “Business” update was a bit too stuffy. The update will also come with a new bullpup rifle, options for high-end apartment player housing, and a new “Mental State” character statistic that will show how aggressive players are.

    In addition to the spring updates, Rockstar today teased a few of the improvements that will be coming to the game in the future. Most of these updates will be minor fixes and features to fine-tune the GTA Online game world, including a “no-contact” race option to prevent player collisions, an RP bonus for leaving job feedback, and increased payout for parachute, race, deathmatch, and LTS jobs.

    Most importantly, though, the developer will be bringing back the original in-air physics for motorcycles and bicycles. This will allow players to perform stunts and tricks that were made impossible by the change. Though Rockstar considers these physics to have originally been a bug, the developer has not stated that it is “open to keeping unintended ‘glitches’ in the game if players enjoy them and they aren’t causing any negative impact to gameplay or fairness in any way.”

  • ‘Grand Theft Auto Online’ Update to Bring Flashy Cars, Suits

    After a rough start Grand Theft Auto Online seems to have settled in to the community-centered experience Rockstar was envisioning. The developer is now issuing almost weekly content updates for the title, enhancing the game with new vehicles, weapons, and clothing that carry over even into the single-player Grand Theft Auto V experience. The game is just wrapping up its limited-time “Valentine’s Day Massacre” in-game event.

    Today Rockstar detailed its latest update for GTA Online. Titled “The Business Update” the content in the add-on seems to be geared toward players who that have lifted characters off the street and consider their criminal enterprises to be a bit more legitimate. The add-on will roll out to both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 console next Tuesday, March 4.

    The main additions coming with the Business Update are the vehicles. Three new flashy sports cars will be added to the game: the “Albany Alpha,” the “Dinka Jester,” and the “Grotti Turismo R.” An equally flashy airplane will be included as well, the “Vestra,” a small passenger jet.

    As with every GTA Online update, the Business Update will include plenty of new clothing for players to try on. The new clothing mostly sticks with the update’s business theme, though there are some new masks too. Suit jackets, high heels, and new glasses are the aesthetic highlights. Players will also be able to give their characters some new business-appropriate hairstyles or what Rockstar is calling “currency-themed” tattoos.

    Though not particularly business-themed, two new weapons will also make their way into GTA Online through this next update: the “Heavy Pistol” and the “Special Carbine.”

  • ‘GTA Online’ Valentine’s Day Massacre Update Announced

    Rockstar corrected an economy-breaking Grand Theft Auto Online exploit back in January and has now returned to what it should be doing – developing more content for GTA multiplayer.

    The developer today announced that the next GTA Online content update is coming this Friday. The new content is styled after a romanticized version of 1920s gangsters, inspired by the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre.

    The “Valentine’s Day massacre Special” update is free and comes with a variety of new content. Everything added in the update will be available for purchase (with in-game cash) in GTA Online only for a limited time. Anything bought during the event, however, can be kept permanently in player inventories.

    New character clothing is, of course, coming in the update. This includes pinstripe suits, flapper dresses, and masquerade masks that players can dress their characters in, along with a new hairstyle for female characters.

    A new gun and vehicle will also be added on Friday. The “Gusenberg Sweeper” weapon provides a callback to the Tommy gun so inextricably linked to gangster lore while the “Albany Roosevelt” vehicle give players an armored 1920s-style limo to show off.

    In addition to the items, the Valentine’s Day Massacre update brings with it 10 new jobs for players to compete in. The new jobs include multiple deathmatches, a parachute jump, and multiple races using cars, boats, and bicycles.

    Image via Rockstar

  • ‘GTA Online’ Exploits Being Dealt With Today

    For the past few weeks, modders have been altering their Grand Theft Auto Online accounts to generate vast sums of in-game cash. Rather than be caught red-handed with billions stashed in the trunk of their 27th chrome-plated sports car, those guilty of manipulating the game have been spreading around their good fortune. Random players in GTA Online have been receiving millions or even billions in in-game cash as the modders have attempted to spread guilt throughout the community.

    Obviously, these exploits have essentially broken the economy of GTA Online. Developer Rockstar today has finally taken action to correct the problem through a new game patch.

    Today’s new patch will, Rockstar claims, remove all of the counterfeit money from the game. Players who modded or otherwise exploited the game will be subject to bans or will be separated into an isolated pool of cheaters to play with.

    Those who did not willfully create the cash will not be banned, but those who received generated cash will have it all taken away. The full amount of counterfeit cash that players receive will be taken away, regardless of where it currently is. Money will first be taken from player bank accounts, then from character wallets.

    Money that players have spent has been taken into account, so players who spent the money they were given could find their bank accounts rather low. Rockstar says that accounts left with no money after the correction will have “sufficient funds” added back to their account to allow them to continue playing.

    A more detailed Q&A about today’s patch can be found at Rockstar’s support site.

  • ‘Grand Theft Auto Online’ Gets New Capture Jobs

    Grand Theft Auto Online is finally functioning and developer Rockstar is now rolling out content for the game with surprising speed. In addition to the “Beach Bum” content add-on and the roll-out of the job creation tools last week, Rockstar this week released its new “Capture” mode jobs. The content is coming in an update today, which also includes some bug fixes and what Rockstar is calling “dynamic tuning updates,” which slightly changes payouts from jobs and prevents players from reaching the North Yankton area via an exploit.

    The new update adds “Capture,” a set of team-based jobs based on capture-the-flag style gameplay. The mode has been split into four different job types that are all available in Freemode.

    The “Raid” job type is most like a classic capture-the-flag match, with teams competing to steal packages from each others’ bases. Two “Raid” jobs have been added to the GTA Online map, on in Vespucci Beach and another in Fort Zancudo Air Base. The air base “Raid” job does include the use of military vehicles.

    The “Contend” job type is a slight variation of “Raid” in which players compete over a single package. The one “Contend” job rolling out with the update today is called “Salty Snatch” and has teams fighting over a package on the Chumash Beach pier.

    The “Hold” job type has players collecting packages throughout an area and bringing them back to a base. Packages can then be stolen from bases by other teams. The one instance of this job is currently located in Chamberlain Hills, where four teams can compete over eight packages.

    The “GTA” job type sees players finding different vehicles and returning them to a base. The “My Malibatsu” job has players take cars from the Malibatsu Factory, while the “Field of Screams” job has players fighting over one Fieldmaster tractor far out in Blaine County.

  • ‘Grand Theft Auto: Online’ Job Creation Tools Released

    Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar today announced that the long-awaited job creation tools for Grand Theft Auto: Online have finally been released. The “Deathmatch & Race Creators Beta” has been pushed out in the latest GTA: Online update for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

    The new tools will allow players to design their own in-game jobs for a handful of game modes, including deathmatch, team deathmatch, race, GTA race, and rally race. Created jobs can be shared with other GTA: Online players, and Rockstar has stated it will take the best creations and slap a “Rockstar Verified” label on them and promote them to the community.

    When creating deathmatch jobs, players will be able to choose the location of the fight and spawn points, as well as fine tune the customizable weapons and vehicles that can be found during the match. Other objects such as ramps can also be placed into the match to make things more interesting.

    For race jobs, players will be able to create races on land, in the water, or through the air. Creators can set the vehicle class for races and then set a course across any part of the Grand Theft Auto V map. As in deathmatch creation various objects will be available for creators to populate their race with, including stunt jumps.

    Labeling the tools as being in beta is probably a good way to temper the expectations of players who were burned by the buggy launch of GTA: Online. Rockstar is still pushing out incremental fixes for the game. Today’s update also includes a few fixes, including increased in-game money for higher difficulty missions and the ability to run inside player housing.

  • ‘GTA Online’ Update Brings Match Creation, Capture Mode Previewed

    Grand Theft Auto Online has had a hard time finding its feet, but developer Rockstar is slowly getting the online mode for Grand Theft Auto V into a playable (and hopefully fun) state.

    Today Rockstar announced that the long-promised game mode creation tools will be released in beta form this week. Players will be able to use a “Deathmatch & Race Creators Beta” to make their own jobs for deathmatch, team deathmatch, race, GTA Race, and Rally Race modes. Other players will then be able to play those created jobs and share them again through the Rockstar Games Social Club. The beta will be coming out with the GTA Online update that will begin rolling out on December 10.

    The new content creator may end up being just the crowd-sourced solution that the content-starved GTA Online needs. Rockstar has promised to take the best of user-created games and feature them as “Rockstar Verified Jobs” that will be shared with everyone playing GTA Online.

    In addition to the new creation tools, Rockstar today teased a brand new game mode for GTA Online. The new mode, called “Capture” is a capture the flag-type mode that pits teams against each other with the objective to steal vehicles or packages from each other. Up to four squads will be able to play at one time, working together to infiltrate enemy territory and put those heist skills to work. The mode will be available in four sub-modes – raid, contend, hold, and GTA.

    Capture mode will not be coming with this week’s update, but Rockstar has teased that it will be coming by the end of the year. Looking further into the future, the developer is also now teasing full cooperative heists for GTA Online, as well as expansions for the single-player GTA V.

  • First ‘Grand Theft Auto Online’ Add-on Coming on November 19

    With Rockstar now claiming that Grand Theft Auto Online is fixed and players rolling in cash from the recent stimulus package, the stage is finally set for more content to come to the game.

    Rockstar today announced that the “Beach Bum” update for GTA Online will be launching on November 19. The update will be free and will automatically download along with the 1.06 update for the game. Though this update seems to be just an expansion of existing content, Rockstar has promised that future updates will include a “Capture the Flag” job mode and fully-cooperative heists for players to complete.

    The new content will feature a variety of new weapons, vehicles, jobs, and customization options for players.

    The two new weapons are an SNS Pistol and a broken bottle. Both of the new weapons can be obtained for free at in-game gun stores and players will also automatically receive them for their characters in Grand Theft Auto V.

    The new vehicles include a dune buggy, off-road truck, camper, and the “Speeder” speedboat. The new vehicles also cost nothing and can be accessed through the in-game web browser. In GTA V players will have to use their marina or garage to access the new vehicles.

    The new jobs aren’t actually new game modes, but are beach-themed takes on existing modes. Rockstar is adding one new race, survival, parachuting, team deathmatch, and bike race jobs each.

    The new customization options are also in-line with the beach bum theme, with flip-flops, board shorts, and tribal tattoos that will soon be available.

  • ‘Grand Theft Auto Online’ Stimulus Package Rolling Out Now

    A little over a week after Grand Theft Auto Online launched, it became clear to developer Rockstar that it had bitten off far more than it could chew. The launch of Grand Theft Auto V‘s multiplayer component was plagued with clogged servers and glitches from the moment it went live, and in mid-October Rockstar promised players $500,000 of free in-game cash as an incentive to stick around while the game was being fixed.

    After over a month of players complaining of lost cash, progress, and characters, Rockstar earlier this week released a patch for GTA Online that has supposedly gotten the game in working order. With that out of the way, the developer has finally made good on its “stimulus package” promise.

    The first $500,000 deposits have now begun rolling out to in-game player bank accounts. Any GTA Online player who played the game during October is eligible for the money. Rockstar predicts that it will take up to two days for all players to receive their cash.

    The stimulus package can be seen as Rockstar’s apology for the issues that plagued GTA Online during its launch month. Over on its newswire, Rockstar thanked the GTA fans that have stuck with the game through its messy launch:

    Thanks go out to everyone for their continued patience and understanding while we worked through these issues, and we can’t wait to bring more into the world of GTA Online. On that note, stay tuned for more details on the Beach Bum update soon along with upcoming Social Club event announcements and more here at the Newswire.

    The “Beach Bum” update is expected to hit GTA Online sometime this month.

  • Rockstar Depositing Virtual Money Into GTA Online Players’ Bank Accounts

    Rockstar Depositing Virtual Money Into GTA Online Players’ Bank Accounts

    GTA Online had some netcode issues plaguing players on its rollout, resulting in a number of patches being released in order to stabilize the experience. Aside from working to fix these issues, Rockstar Games is also rewarding players for not abandoning them during the rough launch. To show their affection, the developers are making it rain in the bank accounts of GTA Online players everywhere. Called “the stimulus package,” will be in the form of digital money–no, not Bitcoin-in the amount of half a million dollars.

    The money will be dispersed via two virtual deposits; each for $250,000. To qualify for Rockstar’s thank you, players must meet the following criteria:

  • You must play or have played Grand Theft Auto Online at any time during the month of October 2013 in order to qualify for the GTA$500,000 deposit in your in-game bank account.
  • Players will first have to install a forthcoming GTAV title update which we expect to happen next week. That title update (1.04) is expected to fix the remaining instances of issues that have caused vehicle purchase loss and will also enable the functionality through which we’ll be providing this GTA$ stimulus cash to players.
  • We will announce at the Rockstar Newswire when each deposit is made.
  • Each of the two GTA$250,000 deposits will be made by Rockstar and should automatically appear in the in-game GTA Online bank accounts of eligible players. Beyond downloading the forthcoming title update mentioned above, there should not be any additional special action required by eligible players to redeem.

    • For those who qualify, but haven’t received their money, Rockstar offers the following:

    We expect that it will take up to 2 full days for the Stimulus Package to be fully delivered to the entire player base from October 2013, so please be patient if you do not see it appearing in your in-game bank account just yet. We will update this post on Friday when we expect all the GTA$ Stimulus Package deposits to have been completed.

    With all of that in mind, what do you plan on doing with all that digital money? Did Rockstar go far enough to make up for their launch day blues?

    [Lead image via Rockstar]

  • ‘Grand Theft Auto Online’ Finally Fixed, Claims Rockstar

    Developer Rockstar today issued yet another new patch for Grand Theft Auto Online, the multiplayer side of the record-selling Grand Theft Auto V. This title update is supposed to end players’ troubles with losing progress and gear once and for all.

    Ever since GTA Onine launched at the beginning of October, players have encountered instability and numerous glitches. The game was unplayable for many fans during its opening days due to crowded servers. In the weeks that followed, many players complained of progress, vehicles, in-game money, and even entire characters simply disappearing.

    Rockstar’s latest patch is meant to deal with these complaints. The developer said it has now implemented a system that prevents progress and in-game cash loss when Rockstar’s cloud servers are down or when there are network problems. A glitch related to players losing vehicles or vehicle mods has also been patched.

    With the game’s largest issues now possibly behind it, Rockstar revealed that its big “special stimulus package” that it announced on October 11 should start rolling out “in the next couple of days.” Players who played GTA Online during October will be receiving $500,000 of in-game cash as a sort of apology for the game’s difficult opening month.

    The fixes come just in time for GTA Online‘s first content add-on, which Rockstar recently announced would be coming in November. The add-on will add new weapons, vehicles, and customization options to both GTA V and GTA Online.

  • Open Mic Fun: Flirting With Strippers In GTA Online Is Awkward

    Voice over IP is a common feature of most, if not all multiplayer games. Some games choose to limit who can hear in-game chatter, keeping team chat streams separate from one another. In an open-world online game like GTA Online, however, there aren’t any teams, so the in-game chat can be heard by anyone who’s logged into that particular session. This means unless fellow GTA Online players are actively muting their counterparts, they can hear all of the verbal diarrhea being spewed. This, unfortunately, includes poor attempts to flirt with virtual strippers who appear in the game.

    As you can see in the lead video, such attempts at flirtation can lead to funny and embarrassing results. Who knows? Maybe the guy being recorded was only goofing off, but the end result is pretty cringe-worthy. Again, this might be the intended reaction by the lady’s man being recorded; but if it’s not, then the awkward level increases exponentially.

    With that in mind, what did we learn from this little public service announcement? Everyone in your GTA Online session can hear what you say, unless they’ve muted you. Granted, such a feature only invites the trolls to come out, but that’s why Rockstar was kind enough to include the mute option. Of course, some players would like to do away with the default open mic status, but I’m not sure how realistic that is. Rockstar has already patched GTA Online a few times, and the open mic status remains. This means player awareness is important. When playing, keep in mind that if your mic–or PS Eye camera is on–everyone who logged in the same game can hear everything you’re saying.

    Tread appropriately.

    [Lead image via Rockstar]

  • GTA Online to Get First Add-On in November

    Though fans of the game are still complaining about game-ruining glitches, developer Rockstar seems to have gotten Grand Theft Auto Online into playable shape. This after weeks of upset gamers who experienced missing characters, in-game money, and vehicles (or were simply unable to play) shortly after the launch of Grand Theft Auto V‘s multiplayer mode.

    With most of the game’s troubles now in the past, Rockstar has finally turned to addressing the future of GTA Online. In an update today, the developer revealed that the first add-on pack for GTA Online will be coming sometime in “early November.” The content, titled “the Beach Bum Pack,” will include new weapons, vehicles, and customization options for player characters. The new items will also be available for players to use in the game’s single-player mode. In addition, the DLC will come with “lots” of new job for players to get into, including new gang attacks, parachutes, deathmatches, and races.

    Apart from the add-on Rockstar also announced that the “first part” of the promised GTA Online content creator tools will be coming sometime this fall. The tools will allow players to create their own deathmatch or race jobs for others to play, and Rockstar will be putting a “Rockstar Verified” seal of approval on a few of the better ones.

    Those “Rockstar Verified” maps could be used in the developer’s social club events for GTA Online, which will begin sometime in November.

    Rockstar also mentioned in the update that the promised “stimulus package” of $500,000 in-game cash per player should begin sometime next week, after another update to the game is released. The update is meant to fix lingering glitches causing some players to lose their in-game progress.

  • GTA Online Players to Get $500K In-Game Cash

    Given all the difficulties Grand Theft Auto Online has had, it wouldn’t be unfair to assume that the player base for the game dwindled quickly. In the nearly two weeks since the game’s debut, however, Rockstar has released two large updates for the title that seem to have gotten game working for the majority of players.

    Now, to lure players back into the fold developer Rockstar is giving away $500,000 of in-game cash to every GTA Online player this month. The “special stimulus package,” as Rockstar refers to it, could be handed out to players as early as the end of next week. Two separate $250,000 deposits will hit player bank accounts by the end of the month.

    Rockstar stated that is will be waiting to confirm it has fixed glitches that were causing players to lose progress and cash before giving away the money. The developer stopped short of calling the giveaway a mea culpa, but did say the event is related to the game’s disastrous launch. From Rockstar’s blog post:

    For players who experienced cloud server errors, connection issues, and lost game progress and characters in these first days of GTA Online, we hope this GTA$ helps to facilitate a fresh start or makes your continued life in Los Santos and Blaine County extra sweet.

    To qualify for the $500,000, players must log on, or have previously logged on, to Grand Theft Auto Online during October. Also, yet another update to the game will need to be downloaded before the “stimulus” will be handed out. In addition to implementing the system through which Rockstar will hand out the cash, the update is said to fix a glitch that can sometimes cause players to lose the cars they have purchased.

  • New ‘GTA Online’ Update Brings it Closer to Working

    When Grand Theft Auto Online was launched last week, the service was so crowded that many (if not most) players couldn’t actually play the game. Developer Rockstar issued a patch for the game within days, but players were still plagued by playability issues. Serious issues such as disappearing characters, network errors, and missing money or experience have been making the GTA Online seem like a mess for over a week.

    Rockstar has now issued yet another update for the game, promising “technical fixes, tweaks, and enhancements” that should improve player experiences. Most importantly, Rockstar claims to have fixed the glitches causing characters to disappear. Other fixes include errors that prevented missions from completing, as well as issues that were causing the game to never load fully. The entire list of fixes from Rockstar’s newswire:

    • Fixes multiple issues causing character deletion or other loss of progress
    • Fixes issues causing infinite loading, infinite sky cams, and missing interface options between jobs
    • Fixes an issue causing the “replay” option to be locked out on certain jobs
    • Fixes an issue where a player would become stuck in the mod garage when respraying a Sanchez motor bike
    • Fixes an issue where the Player became stuck inside Los Santos Customs during Online tutorial flow
    • Fixes an issue causing the loss of guns and ammo
    • Fixes issues causing GTA races ending early because of players spawning too far ahead
    • Fixes issues in Last Team Standing where sessions would not progress past the lobby
    • Fixes issues with network errors when joining Last Team Standing using Quick Job
    • Added clarifications around when a player is using a temporary character in GTA Online during Rockstar Cloud server outages
    • Adjusts the monetary penalty for being killed in a One on One match

    The update has already been pushed out for PlayStation 3 owners, and should appear for the Xbox 360 sometime today.

    In its blog post, Rockstar also issued an apology to players who had lost characters or progress due to the glitches. The developer also strongly suggests that players save their game before quitting by exiting to the single-player mode of Grand Theft Auto V.

    (Image courtesy Rockstar)

  • GTA Online Still Suffering, Rockstar Addresses Complaints

    Since it launched on Tuesday, Grand Theft Auto Online has been spotty at best. The online mode for the mega-hit Grand Theft Auto V was flooded with millions of players, causing servers to clog within minutes of its launch. It’s a safe bet that on launch day a majority of players were either not able to play the multiplayer mode or experienced severe glitches, including locked-up consoles, deleted characters, and missing limbs.

    Now, with GTA Online finally beginning to become playable for a majority of gamers, Rockstar provided an update about the game’s status and some info about what it is doing to fix the problems. Though the developer did not issue an outright apology, it did admit that GTA Online has “been a bit less than smooth” for players this week.

    A significant fix has been pushed out for PlayStation 3 owners, allowing more than a few of them to access GTA Online at one time. The developer is also working on what it is calling “instability across the GTA Online services.”

    Now that more people can access the game, Rockstar has turned to fixing the first mission. When entering GTA Online, players are forced into a tutorial car racing mission and many players have experienced game freezes and other glitches when starting the race. Rockstar stated it will be “unblocking” the mission in some way, though it wasn’t specific on whether players will be able to skip the race.

    In the meantime, with all of the troubles plaguing GTA Online, Rockstar has disabled sales for in-game cash. The developer stated that the microtransactions will go on sale again when everybody has access to the game and the service is stable (presumably when players can be guaranteed that their in-game cash won’t simply disappear).

  • Grand Theft Auto Online Servers Hit By Heavy Traffic

    Many recently released AAA game titles, like Aliens: Colonial Marines or TOTAL WAR: Rome II, have been launched only for players to discover that some advertised features seem distorted, broken, or poorly implemented. GTA V proves to be no exception, with its online portion suffering from tremendous server overload.

    Twitter was abuzz with retweets of Rockstar announcements and bitter consumers:

    Rockstar Games was, of course, apologetic. “We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this,” the company posted along with a series of issues they are currently working on.

    The BBC reported that on Monday morning, Rockstar North officially opened up the online multiplayer portion of their hottest shooter.

    Of course, unlike many AAA publishers, Rockstar is a company that handles things differently. Interviews with the company have shown they rarely promote games at large entertainment expos or send out a plethora of review copies to journalists and bloggers.

    Rockstar had written a blog detailing their awareness of the possibility of server issues for GTA Online: “One thing we are already aware of, and are trying to alleviate as fast as we can, is the unanticipated additional pressure on the servers due to a significantly higher number of players than we were anticipating at this point – we are working around the clock to buy and add more servers, but this increased scale is only going to make the first few days even more temperamental than such things usually are.”

    The UK editor for IGN.com, Keza McDonald, conservatively estimated the player count of GTA Online’s first 24 hours at 2 million. “Rockstar has never done an online game of this scale before, so they are totally unproven in terms of their network infrastructure… even the highly successful World of Warcraft at its peak didn’t have as many people playing online at once as GTA is likely to have,” she said.

    [Image via Rockstar Games]