Grand Theft Auto 5 Online Mode Arrives
The update that will enable access to Grand Theft Auto 5 Online is now available for download. Just start up GTA 5, and you should get an automatic prompt to download an update for the game. After that, the “Online” tab within the game will be populated with Grand Theft Auto 5 Online options and information.
Due to “unanticipated additional pressure on the servers due to a significantly higher number of players [than expected]”, Rockstar has warned that play might be “temperamental” for the first few days. “We are working around the clock to buy and add more servers,” said the game’s developers in a blog post.
It’s essentially a massively multiplayer game, like World of Warcraft, but set in a modern city rather than a fantasy kingdom. Each time you play, you enter a server that is currently restricted to 16 players, but the entire universe is interconnected – there’s even a persistent economy and a stock market that changes dynamically based on what players all over the world spend their in-game cash on.
Passive mode, rumours of which have leaked from the game’s closed beta apparently allows you to switch off all interaction with other players so that you can just drive around and go shopping without worrying about getting shot.
In preparation for online play Rockstar has also outlined a slew of rules and recommendations to deal with the troubles of multiplayer, whilst also letting players known that the online portion of the game occurs “a few months prior to the events of Grand Theft Auto 5 single player story.”
