Rockstar has announced that an update file is now available for GTA Online, the troubled multiplayer extension to Grand Theft Auto V. Since the free download was released on Tuesday, thousands of gamers have found it almost impossible to access the new content, which allows players to meet up in an online version of Los Santos, where they can carry out out co-op missions, race cars or just chase each other through the streets with sub-machine guns.
The publisher has kept players up to date via its GTA Online Status page, where an assortment of problems, from disappearing save files to game-crashing bugs and poor connection with the Social Club service, have been reported. As the instability continued, Rockstar made the decision to disable the microtransaction feature, which allows players to buy in-game currency with real cash.
Currently, the update, which downloads automatically when GTA V loads, is only available to PlayStation 3 owners, but an Xbox 360 version is expected later today.
Until then, players are being offered a range of possible fixes for the key issue - the inability to progress past the tutorial race at the beginning. From Rockstar's site:
Some players have reported being able to get into the Tutorial race by re-downloading the Title Update, which can be deleted from Xbox Home or the PS3 XMB (Game Data Utility, NOT save data). Others reported having luck by selecting "Swap Character" from the Online tab within the pause menu, deleting the character that was unable to get into the tutorial, and then creating a new character. Going into GTAO in Solo mode may also help to allow completion of the tutorial. Some who were experience this issue have been able to get in just by trying again later.
We'll up date this story when the Xbox 360 version of the patch is available.
• Helen Lewis: Yes, it's misogynistic and violent, but I still admire GTA
• GTA V and the future of micro-transactions
• GTA 5 review: a dazzling but monstrous parody of modern life