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Rockstar: Lohan's GTA 5 lawsuit just Jonas-ing for publicity
Lindsay Lohan's Grand Theft Auto 5 lawsuit was "filed for publicity purposes" according to creator Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive. Lohan sued Rockstar and Take-Two for damages back in July over the in-game character of Lacey Jonas, a troubled young actress who struggles with an eating disorder and dealing with the paparazzi. The case claimed Lohan's image, voice and styles from her clothing label were all used to depict Jonas, forming an "unequivocal" reference to the Mean Girls star. As the Associated Press reports, Rockstar is having none of it. Manhattan court papers made public this week show Take-Two and its subsidiary not only want the suit dismissed, but the company wants Lohan to pay its legal fees. As far as Take-Two is concerned, Jonas only resembles Lohan in being a young, blonde woman.
GTA Online's San Andreas Flight School update takes off today
Rockstar's latest update for GTA Online earns its wings today on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, giving Grand Theft Auto 5 players access to ten new flight-focused missions. The San Andreas Flight School Update introduces new planes that players can pilot in a collection of themed Race, Capture, Parachute Jump missions. The update also adds new aerial competitive modes, including the flag-capturing Acquire Targets mode and the Air Force Zero base defense mission. Rockstar will host an experience-boosting weekend event starting this Friday to commemorate GTA 5's latest update, and 14 new Jobs have launched to give players a chance to earn more in-game cash and reputation points. A full list of changes introduced in today's title update is available at Rockstar's support site. [Image: Rockstar Games]
Relive classic Grand Theft Auto moments in GTA Online
In its latest newswire update, Rockstar Games highlights a handful of GTA Online jobs that revisit pivotal moments from past Grand Theft Auto entries courtesy of creative fans and the game's powerful Creator tool. From the classic Grand Theft Auto 3 to the underloved GTA: Chinatown Wars, Rockstar's selection covers a wide swath of open-world sandbox mayhem. "Four Iron," for instance, is a modern, deathmatch take on the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City mission of the same name, in which Tommy Vercetti chased a land developer through a golf course before murdering the poor sap. "Valet Parking," on the other hand, is a lap race homage to those recurring side missions in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in which CJ would pose as a valet, and either politely park cars to earn extra cash or drive off with a fancy new ride. The Rockstar newswire has a full list of throwback missions, for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but keep in mind that the limitations of the GTA Online Creator prevent any of these jobs from being singleplayer affairs. The only way to truly relive Rockstar's classics is by replaying the original games. [Image: Take Two]
GTA Online nabs 10 new verified jobs, including Hipster selections
Rockstar has updated Grand Theft Auto 5's GTA Online multiplayer component with ten new verified jobs created by Rockstar Games Social Club members, including five winning entries in its "I'm Not A Hipster" job design competition. Contest-winning jobs include the Grove Street Deathmatch "The 80's Turf War," along with a collection of Point-to-Point and Lap Races featuring vehicles from the recent "I'm Not A Hipster" content update. Other featured jobs include the Grand Prix-styled Race "The Los Santos Triangle," explosive Team Deathmatch map "Pit Stop," and the vertically-oriented free-for-all Deathmatch "Retaliate." Competition winners receive an exclusive HIPSTER vanity plate and $1 million in GTA Online in-game currency. Verified user-submitted job designs feature changes and improvements implemented by Rockstar staff, and are playable on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Grand Theft Auto 5. [Image: Rockstar Games]
Lindsay Lohan sues Rockstar over GTA 5 character likeness
Following months of idle threats, actress Lindsay Lohan has officially filed a lawsuit against Rockstar Games, alleging that the Grand Theft Auto 5 creators borrowed her likeness for the character of Lacey Jonas. According to the suit, Lohan's virtual doppelganger mirrors the actress' struggles with the paparazzi, while also depicting her voice, image and personal style. Further, the suit points out that Rockstar included an in-game spoof of the famous Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, a hotel where Lohan herself lived for several months. Lacey Jonas is an "unequivocal" reference to Lohan, the suit claims, before asking for unspecified damages. Not mentioned in the suit are Lohan's recent financial woes, rumored drug abuse or her longstanding reputation as an unreliable actress, all of which has caused her stock to plummet among Hollywood studios over the past decade. Nor does the suit mention that Grand Theft Auto 5 ranks among the most successful game releases of all time, having earned over $800 million dollars on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 alone (and with more money to come from imminent PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One versions). Then, of course, there's the legally-protected concept of "satire" to discuss - but we're sure a judge will cover all of these bases once this lawsuit finds its way into a courtroom. [Image: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department]
Grand Theft Auto lead buys a big, beautiful church
Rockstar North President Leslie Benzies purchased St. Stephen's Church in Edinburgh, Scotland, with the intent to prolong its role as a community venue for arts, theater and music gatherings. St. Stephen's Church is just half a mile from Benzies' home, and the purchase was "entirely philanthropic," spokesperson Philip Johnston told Edinburgh News. The deal was thought to exceed £500,000. Benzies is the lead developer on the Grand Theft Auto series, from Grand Theft Auto 3 onwards. "The preservation of St. Stephen's church as a community center meets a pressing need as well as protecting an important historical building," Johnston said. "We are delighted that we can help bring the church back to its former glory, securing its future whilst providing a renovated local and performing arts centre that will benefit the wider community." The church features the longest clock pendulum in Europe and a 160-foot tower, with performance space that can hold 800 people. Edinburgh News reported that St. Stephen's Church had been a community center for the past 20 years, but recently, it'd been used less. Benzies out-bid more than 50 other potential buyers, some of whom wished to turn the church into bars, restaurants or private residences. "We will engage with the community as the plans progress and look forward to welcoming local residents and groups back to the centre in the very near future," Johnston said. [Image: Malcolm McCurrach]
GTA Online claims 'I'm Not A Hipster,' update says otherwise
The latest addition to Grand Theft Auto Online will fill the virtual world with overly tight jeans, thick-rimmed glasses designed to express collective individuality and artfully distressed print tees torn from the dreams of Dov Charney. Dubbed the "I'm Not A Hipster" update, this most recent DLC features new clothing, masks, tattoos and, of course, hairstyles that can only be described as "cool" under the most ironic of conditions. Additionally, Rockstar Games promises seven new vehicles will join the online crime-ridden wasteland. From classics like the Glendale to environmentally friendly minicars like the Panto, there's something for every carjacker. And, if you've got a large family (or crew of hardened criminals) to lug around, the update also adds a massive three-axel, six-seat Dubsta for those who reach Rank 100. Two antique weapons and twelve new jobs round out the "I'm Not A Hipster" update, for those who couldn't find gainful employment attaching birds to things or raising urban co-op poultry. Rockstar has yet to reveal a precise release date for this latest addition, but as with all Grand Theft Auto Online add-ons, "I'm Not A Hipster" will be available at no charge. Update: The "I'm Not A Hipster" update is out now on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Have fun! [Image: Rockstar Games]
Video compares Grand Theft Auto 5's PS3 and PS4 trailers
Sony introduced Grand Theft Auto 5 for PS4 with a brief trailer during its E3 2014 press conference last week, and now Digital Foundry created a video to compare it with similar footage from the game's PS3 version. Some of the side-by-side trailer's more stark contrasts include crashing waves, more animals moseying about and some instances of enhanced lighting and details on items like factories and vehicles in the PS4 version. GTA 5 may have been part of Sony's press event, but it will also launch on Xbox One and PC this fall after first arriving on PS3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013. Take-Two shipped 33 million copies of the game on the previous-generation systems as of mid-May. Aside from updated visuals, it will receive a video editing feature designed for "advanced movie-making" on PC. [Image: Rockstar Games]
Grand Theft Auto 5 coming to PS4 this fall [Update: Xbox One, PC too]
Grand Theft Auto 5 will come to PS4, Sony announced during its E3 2014 press conference. Those with a copy of GTA 5 for PS3 or Xbox 360 will be able to transfer their progress to PlayStation 4 when it arrives this fall. The game first launched in September 2013 for PS3 and Xbox 360. Update: A new trailer reveals it's also on the way to Xbox One and - yup - PC too. Update 2: Rockstar noted that the PC version of GTA 5 "will also feature a video editor designed for advanced movie-making," in an additional press release, found after the break.
Take-Two: Red Dead is 'permanent,' BioShock stays with 2K Marin
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick noted Red Dead among the company's "permanent franchises" at the Cowen and Company's Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this week. "It's obvious that GTA is a permanent franchise as long as we keep delivering this incredible quality; it seems quite obvious that Red Dead is a permanent franchise, again with the same caveat," he said. The Rockstar Games-developed series has two entries: 2004's Red Dead Revolver and 2010's Red Dead Redemption, and the CEO's phrasing strongly indicates that another Red Dead game is on the way. "But not everything is going to be a permanent franchise," Zelnick added. "We can do very well even if it's not. I would like to see us grow with a couple more great franchises in the next couple years and we're launching Evolve, we have very high hopes for that." Zelnick also commented on the BioShock series, saying the publisher thinks it is "beloved, we think it's important [and] certainly something that we're focused on, something 2K Marin will be responsible for shepherding going forward." 2K Marin suffered layoffs in October following the launch of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, prior to reports that the studio was on the verge of shuttering entirely. The developer launched BioShock 2 in 2010 between the two entries created by the Ken Levine-led studio Irrational Games. Irrational downsized to a small team of 15 in February, at which point Levine said the developer was "handing the reins of our creation, the BioShock universe, to 2K so our new venture can focus entirely on replayable narrative." [Image: Take-Two]
Amazon discounts over 1,000 digital PC games
Amazon kicked off its Digital Games Mayhem sale, discounting over 1,000 downloadable PC games. Okay, we didn't count to make sure the retailer had that many games on sale; we were too busy adding the Rockstar Ultimate Collection to our online carts. The bundle features 12 games from the developer at 85 percent off ($25.49), including L.A. Noire, GTA 4 and GTA Vice City. The sale also knocks 75 percent off the Metro Franchise Pack ($12.49), Saints Row Franchise Pack ($18.75) and Batman Mega Bundle ($22.50), the latter of which includes Batman: Arkham Asylum, Arkham City and Arkham Origins in addition to Origins' season pass. As for individual games, Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn is 40 percent off ($14.99), Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut is 55 percent off ($11), NBA 2K14 can be downloaded at 68 percent off ($9.59) and Civilization 5 is 46 percent off ($16.24). All deals in the Digital Games Mayhem sale are good until May 31. [Image: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment]
Rockstar promising next-gen release this fiscal year
During today's record-revenue Take-Two financial call, CEO Strauss Zelnick acknowledged the significant contribution of Rockstar Games and the 33 million units shipped of Grand Theft Auto 5, while teasing an unannounced release from the company. "We're excited about what [Rockstar] have in store for the new generation of systems this fiscal year," said Zelnick, not providing any further clarification throughout the rest of the hour-long conference call. The company's fiscal year will conclude in March, 2015. This more than likely just refers to a next-gen facelift for GTA 5, but we're going to push logic and reason aside for a moment to wish on a star for Red Dead Redemption 2 (Redder Deader Redemption) on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Heck, we'd even take a new Rockstar Table Tennis on Wii U.
Live the High Life in GTA Online next week
Come May 13, Grand Theft Auto Online will receive the long-awaited High Life DLC update, an addition that will allow players to go from well-heeled criminals to small time real estate barons. Alongside new weaponry, vehicles and clothing options, High Life adds additional high-end apartments to the multiplayer world of GTA Online. If you already own a virtual base of operations, don't worry: The High Life update also introduces multiple property ownership. Granted, this only expands the number of possible properties a player can own to two, but that's still a 100 percent improvement over the previous system, and should save players a lot of time that would otherwise be spent driving across town to their sole safehouse. Finally, the High Life update adds a "Mental State" stat to the GTA Online user interface. Think of "Mental State" as a running counter of just how antisocial your avatar has been in GTA Online. As this stat is public and attached to every player, it should provide ample warning if you join a server full of griefers who've spent hours gunning down anyone foolish enough to spawn within their virtual world. [Image: Rockstar Games]
GTA 4, Red Dead multiplayer gameplay unaffected by GameSpy closure
Rockstar's collection of games are some of the many to be affected by GameSpy's closure next month, although for the most part the studio's latest releases won't suffer. Rockstar plans to transition out of GameSpy's matchmaking service when it closes on May 31, and for some of the studio's older games, that will signal the end for their online features. The closure means Rockstar is removing all the online features from Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition and Dub Edition Remix, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on DS and PSP, and Beaterator. The racers are losing all online multiplayer as a result, while Chinatown Wars and Beaterator are dropping their Social Club features. The music mixing game is also ditching track uploading and downloading. No surprises: Grand Theft Auto 5 is totally unaffected, and online multiplayer gameplay remains intact in GTA 4, too. However, GTA 4 is dropping multiplayer leaderboards on PS3, while all platforms are parting with Social Club stat tracking and leaderboards. By the by, all of that also goes for the Complete version of GTA 4 and the Episodes from Liberty City.
2K's Zelnick: 70% of connected GTA5 players play GTA Online
Over 70 percent of players fired up Grand Theft Auto 5's multiplayer GTA Online component in the months after the game's initial release, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told Fox Business in an interview this week. "Just a few years ago when we put out a product, no matter how big, when we put out a hit we collected our money, we went onto the next," Zelnick said, addressing GTA Online's microtransaction-driven revenue model. "Now what we're finding is we're creating recurrent consumer spending and we have the gift that keeps on giving. I talked about that when we took over Take-Two six years ago. It's nice to see it coming true." Grand Theft Auto 5 shipped 32.5 million units worldwide as of February, and earned over $1 billion in revenue during its three days at retail. Developer Rockstar Games continues to support GTA Online with frequent content updates, and a new job creation system is set to launch this Friday. [Image: Rockstar]
Capture new job creation tools in GTA Online this Friday
Rockstar will launch the capture jobs creation system in GTA Online this Friday, April 11 and is offering a rewards boost in select online missions until then. Starting Friday, Grand Theft Auto 5 players can use the GTA Online Creator Tool to build missions using one of four capture job variants: Contend, GTA, Hold or Raid. For those unfamiliar, Rockstar describes the capture jobs as a "GTA twist on classic capture the flag style confrontations." To get players accustomed to the job style's unique brand of action, the developer upped the reward levels for all official capture jobs in GTA Online. Until Friday, jobs like "GTA: All Abhorred" and "Raid: High Road" will earn players double the GTA$ and RP. [Image: Rockstar Games]
Co-op heist missions coming to Grand Theft Auto Online this Spring
This morning, Rockstar Games unveiled a look at the content headed for Grand Theft Auto Online in the near future. By the end of Spring, the game should boast new weapons, player-crafted Capture Jobs and new co-op heist missions. Come next week, Rockstar plans to drop the first update which will add Capture Jobs to the crime-ridden online multiplayer game. According to Rockstar, players will be able to customize these Capture Jobs by placing weapons, ammo and other miscellaneous items as they please, then share the results with the rest of the Grand Theft Auto Online community. Following that addition, Rockstar will deliver the "High Life Update," a DLC pack that introduces new weapons, vehicles, clothing options and two new gameplay functions. Once installed, the High Life Update will allow players to own multiple properties in Grand Theft Auto Online, while the new Mental State statistic will keep a running tally of just how sociopathic your avatar has been within the virtual world. Finally, Rockstar mentions the upcoming Heist missions. Scant details are available, but the developer claims players will be able to join forces with others, either random online players or members of their crew, to pull off complicated, co-operative theft assignments. More details on this particular update are said to be coming soon. [Image: Rockstar Games]
European PlayStation Store slashes prices on Rockstar games
From now until April 2, the European version of Sony's PlayStation Network Store is hosting two sales both focused on massively discounting the prices attached to games bearing the Rockstar Games logo. The core of the sale is aimed at Max Payne 3 and Grand Theft Auto 4, though these particular discounts only last until March 26. Max Payne 3 was originally £15.99 but is now £5.99 while Grand Theft Auto 4 has seen a similarly impressive price drop from £19.99 to £5.49. The sale also offers sizable discounts on the Max Payne 3 season pass, as well as the two Liberty City Stories released as DLC for Grand Theft Auto 4. The remainder of the PSN discounts are valid until April 2 and include games like Canis Canim Edit (aka Bully), Red Dead Revolver and all three of the Grand Theft Auto games released for the PlayStation 2. Grand Theft Auto 4 is again the highlight here, as the game's Complete Edition, which was originally priced at £24.99, can be purchased for £7.99. For full details and pricing information, visit the European PlayStation.blog. [Image: Rockstar Games]
Rockstar Games weekend sale now live on Steam
Rockstar Games steps into the spotlight for a weekend-long Steam publisher sale, bringing price drops for L.A. Noire and the Grand Theft Auto series, among other deals. Starting today, Steam members can pick up the DLC-bundled Complete Edition of L.A. Noire for just $7.49. The four-game (plus DLC) Grand Theft Auto Complete Pack is up for grabs at $9.99, while the entire Max Payne series (including Max Payne 3's Rockstar Pass) is priced at $9.89. Other sale highlights include Midnight Club 2 for $3.29, Bully: Scholarship Edition for $4.95, and Manhunt for $3.29. Sale prices remain in effect through March 17. [Image: Rockstar]
Rockstar Games to receive 'wholly deserved' BAFTA fellowship
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced plans to award a fellowship to Rockstar Games for its contributions in bringing video games to the mainstream, and more specifically, for its wildly successful, critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto franchise. "It is hugely exciting to be able to recognize the amazing contribution made by Rockstar to the games industry over the past 16 years," stated Harvey Elliott, chair of the BAFTA Games Committee. "The creativity and passion exhibited by the Rockstar teams have inspired a generation of game developers to raise the bar in every aspect of game development. From design and mechanics, through to storytelling, cinematics and audio immersion, and in the process creating games that compete so profoundly on a global stage across all entertainment media." "We have long believed in the potential for videogames to become a new form of cultural expression and worked to show that in our games, so for us accepting the BAFTA Fellowship is incredibly humbling," said Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser, who now joins Shigeru Miyamoto and Will Wright on the short list of gaming industry figures to receive BAFTA fellowships. The British Academy Games Awards is scheduled to take place on March 12 in London. Those interested in attending can purchase tickets from BAFTA, while the rest of us will have to settle for streaming the show on Twitch. [Rockstar Games]
