Skip to main content

Rockstar Games offers an update on ‘GTA Online’ connectivity issues

Rockstar Games runs through some of the issues that many players are encountering when they try to sign on with GTA Online in the latest post on the Grand Theft Auto V developer’s Newswire blog. A big one that’s now been resolved on the PlayStation 3 side was a studio-set limit placed on the number of concurrent users, effectively blocking people from playing completely. Other issues relating to both the tutorial and the main portion of GTA Online remain, and all known issues are being logged to a Rockstar support page.

For the tutorial, many people have been running into issues with progressing through the mission, either from certain chunks of it not loading or from an assortment of progress-halting error messages. We can confirm this based on our own time spent in the online version of GTA V‘s Los Santos. There’s no one reliable fix, as it seems to be an issue of traffic overload. Some people suggest clearing your system cache or deleting the latest update or swapping characters or even just trying again later. All of these work, and none of them do, as is often the case with issues relating to a hammered cluster of servers. From our own experiences so far, it’s possible to get through the tutorial and into GTA Online proper if you’re patient and persistent; just keep trying to get past whatever the game is jamming up on, and it should eventually work.

Recommended Videos

The issues don’t disappear once you’re beyond those first steps. Sometimes you’ll see an error when you’re trying to link up with friends in freemode, or when you’re trying to join them on missions and competitive multiplayer showdowns. Other times you’ll error out when you just try to jump into any form of GTA Online lobby, with or without friends. As with the tutorial issues, our advice, based on our experiences so far, is just to be patient and persistent. You’ll get in eventually, and it should become easier to do so with each passing day. It’s not like Rockstar didn’t take steps to warn its users that there would be post-launch issues with GTA Online.

As a result of the ongoing issues, the ability to purchase “cash cards” – microtransactions that allows players to buy in-game money for real world dollars – has been disabled. Makes sense. Some of the issues being encountered relate to progress not saving or stored vehicles disappearing (again, firsthand experience here on both counts). It would frankly be foolish to buy any of those cash cards right now, and in turning off the feature completely, Rockstar inoculates itself against having to deal with angry fools alongside the pile of technical concerns.

The good news is that GTA Online shows a lot of promise when it’s working. Many of the promised features – like co-op heists and content creation – remain promises for now. But the straightforward experience of running around the giant open world with actual, living people is there, and it’s filled with delightfully emergent moments. You can participate in a number of adversarial modes, including races, team deathmatch and “Last Man Standing” (a one-life-per-round TDM variant), rob convenience stores and gas stations, and generally just raise hell as you might in your offline game. We’ll have more to say here at DT Gaming about GTA Online tomorrow, so stay tuned for that. For now, keep watching Rockstar’s support page and let us know in the comments below how your own adventures through a multiplayer Los Santos have felt so far.

Adam Rosenberg
Former Gaming/Movies Editor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
Nintendo Switch Online adding GameCube games exclusively for Switch 2
Nintendo GameCube controller on red background

The Switch 2 direct wasn't just about all the shiny new games you'll play, there was also a much requested update to Nintendo Switch Online focused on some great old ones too! Yes, GameCube games are finally coming to Nintendo's online games service. The major caveat being that this is exclusive for Nintendo Switch 2.

This update is part of the Nintendo Switch 2 Online + Expansion Pack service, which to date already lets you play games from past consoles from the NES to Nintendo 64. The first game that will be included is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the classic cartoon looking entry that sees Link setting sail in a world of islands. That itself is pretty exciting, but does mean that the constant rumors of a remake or port of the title are probably dead in the water.

Read more
Ubisoft Connect is down, locking players out of their games
Ubisoft Connect logo.

Ubisoft's online PC launcher, Ubisoft Connect, is currently experiencing connectivity issues that prevent players from accessing their games. The official Ubisoft Support team has acknowledged the issue but has not given a timeframe for when the service will be back online.

https://x.com/UbisoftSupport/status/1897020436514259219

Read more
L.A. Noire developer Video Games Deluxe becomes Rockstar Australia
A screenshot from LA Noire.

Rockstar Games has acquired Video Games Deluxe, soon to be renamed Rockstar Australia. The studio is based in Sydney and is responsible for the 2017 re-release of L.A. Noire as well as the more recent Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy.

The news might come as a surprise; after all, the two studios have worked alongside one another for years. However, it was just a partnership until this point. "It's been an honor to work closely with Rockstar Games this past decade," said Brendan McNamara, founder of Video Games Deluxe. "We are thrilled to part part of Rockstar Games and to continue our efforts to make the best games possible."

Read more