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'GTA Online' rewards you for watching Facebook livestreams
You now have good reasons to watch GTA Online streams besides the thrill of the gameplay itself. Now that the After Hours expansion is available, Rockstar is using Facebook's In-Stream Rewards to give you free GTAO currency when you watch certain broadcasts. So long as you have your Facebook account linked to your Rockstar Games Social Club account, you'll have a chance at padding your virtual bank account just by tuning in.
Lost your Grand Theft Auto Online character? Have some money instead!
For all the problems of online games, there's a certain assumption that your character is safe no matter what technical problems might hit the server. Sure, Grand Theft Auto Online has had some growing pains, but if your character vanishes for some reason you can still -- wait, no, apparently your character is lost forever and will never return to you. That's kind of the opposite of news you were hoping for. So in the hopes that you'll be distracted, Rockstar is throwing half a million dollars at you. Before you get too distracted, you should know that this is in-game money. Two payments of $250,000 in-game will be provided to players on two distinct dates, hopefully by the end of next week. While this won't exactly replace the time and effort lost via vanishing characters, it should at least take the edge off of Grand Theft Auto Online's unexpected problems.
Rockstar reveals new GTA Online details prior to next week's roll out
Ahead of next week's GTA Online launch, developer Rockstar Games took to its blog to outline what to expect come October 1st. The post goes to great lengths to establish that the entire experience is free -- unless you want to buy in-game currency with real money -- and incredibly you-centric. Feedback you provide by emailing or posting on the official forums will help shape the game. Where you spend your time and what you end up doing (Sports! Heists! Chaos!) in San Andreas will affect the direction the developers take with future content and how they tune the overall experience. However, while the entry answers a few questions it also creates some new ones. Specifically, we're curious about the company's use of "roll out" to describe GTA:O's release. An incremental approach is probably best considering the game's current server strains, but we're sure that's not what its some 16.5 million players will want to hear.
Grand Theft Auto Online launches October 1st with MMO-like elements (video)
For some, Grand Theft Auto 4's multiplayer mode was a promise unfulfilled -- it had the open environment of a massively multiplayer online game, but none of the genre's persistent content. Rockstar is making amends by unveiling Grand Theft Auto Online, an independent counterpart to GTA5 with a few MMO components. While only 16 players can participate in a given session, they all have permanent stakes in the game world: they can raise cash, buy property and build a reputation that unlocks new gameplay. There are "ambient" events, and gamers can even design custom battles or races to share with others. The new title should also represent a break from Rockstar's usual business model, which emphasizes blockbuster releases with few (if any) updates. Although GTAO will be available for free to GTA5 buyers on October 1st and start off with that game's resources, it should receive a steady stream of new missions and purchases. Ultimately, the two GTA games may have little in common. Rockstar hasn't said whether or not it will charge players for any extras, but we wouldn't be surprised if they carry price tags.
Is Rockstar announcing a GTA MMO?
If you've been sitting back just waiting for a look at an online version of Grand Theft Auto, you'll have to wait a little longer... but at least not much! Rockstar Games has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto Online is on its way. The announcement, however, is just a teaser that the premiere of the game, along with a gameplay trailer and previews, will be incoming on Thursday, August 15th. The move to an official online version is not unexpected. Back in January, the voice chat update brought the franchise one step closer to MMO-dom. We've even done an impressions piece on a multiplayer version of GTA San Andreas. And last month, Massively mused on the possibility of an MMO after noting some online features in the reveal trailer for GTA V. But will GTA Online be an actual MMO, or will it just be a multiplayer lobby for GTA V? The answer may be forthcoming Thursday. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip]
