What to expect from GTA Online at launch

Rockstar Games has revealed what to expect from GTA Online at launch. The online component to the critically acclaimed open world title that released earlier this month will see a wealth of content at launch, followed by updates that expands upon the universe in the weeks and months ahead.

Rockstar claims that the early goings of GTA Online at launch will mostly be used to fine tune the experience, as they will be looking for community feedback about what’s working and what’s not working for the game.

The developers also addressed the controversial inclusion of microtransactions in GTA Online in the update. Confirming the existence of real money cash packs purchasable in GTA Online, but reaffirmed fans that this will not affect the balance of the online experience. “The game and its economy have been designed and balanced for the vast majority of players who will not buy extra cash. There is no in-game paywall and nothing that should disrupt the balance of the game. You don’t have to spend real money to attain the cars, guns, clothes, flash and style of a high-roller in Los Santos, but can if you wish to get them a little quicker.”

Some things that will not be available at launch include The Content Creator and Heists, which will be added “within the first few weeks” of release. GTA Online is set to arrive on October 1st as a free update. For the full list of GTA Online features head below.

Available at Launch of GTA Online

From launch, up to 16 players can enter the world together and partake in a number of different events.

Open-World Crime and Chaos:

Go on your own or round up your friends to explore the open world together – catch a movie, go mountain biking, hit the shooting range and much more. Want to test the law? Knock over a convenience store, take down a gang or rob an armored truck for easy cash and Reputation.

Jobs:

Los Santos and Blaine County are ripe with opportunity for the ambitious and criminal minded. Take on Missions and an array of other Jobs as a lone wolf, team up with your Crew or join fellow mercenaries and degenerates to pull off a wide range of robberies and illicit activities together.

Races:

Everything from classic street competition and off-road tracks to boat racing on the open ocean, or take to the skies in aerial events. Jump into the madness of a GTA Race, or try out a brand new race type, Rally, where driver and co-pilot work together to navigate treacherous courses at high speeds.

Sports:

Join your friends / any random stranger for a game of tennis, a round of golf or go base jumping and more, all for cash and Reputation.

Customization:

Create your character using the Character Creator – then earn some cash and spend it getting dressed for success. You can also collect and customize cars for your garage and personalize your full weapons cache.

Reputation and Cash Flow:

Reputation is earned from all your online exploits in everything you do in GTA Online – and will help you rank up, providing access to new features, weapons and criminal contacts. Spend cash you’ve gained on cars, clothes, guns, properties and much more. You can either quickly accumulate cash through profitable activities like knocking over armored cars, winning street races, doing stick-ups or a host of other cash-making endeavors – or if you’re the completely instant gratification type, you can choose to buy denominations of GTA$. You will have the option to purchase GTA$ through the in-game Store. The game and its economy have been designed and balanced for the vast majority of players who will not buy extra cash. There is no in-game paywall and nothing that should disrupt the balance of the game. You don’t have to spend real money to attain the cars, guns, clothes, flash and style of a high-roller in Los Santos, but can if you wish to get them a little quicker. The economy is balanced differently from the single player economy, and cash earned in one cannot be taken over to the other. Most players will earn cash much faster Online than in Story Mode.

Growing Pains:

There will be the typical growing pains for an online game, including but not limited to crashes, glitches, crazy bugs, gameplay modes and mechanics that need re-balancing and other surprises! Even in GTAV Story Mode, some of you may have seen a few odd and even amusing little glitches out there last week. This sort of thing is inevitable in a massive open-world game and there’ll surely be lots more unexpected oddities like this in the Online world next week – rest assured we’ll be monitoring and actively doing all we can to smooth such things out as they happen, but we need your help to find them, as well as your feedback to help fine tune all of the game’s systems so everything is perfectly balanced.

Planned Updates for GTA Online

Free updates to arrive within “the first few weeks” of Grand Theft Auto online:

The Content Creator:

The Content Creator will launch with tools to tailor and publish your own Deathmatches & Races.

The Beach Bum Pack:

Featuring 4 new amazing beach fun vehicles, over 300 new items of incredible down tempo leisure wear and 2 new but not remotely relaxing weapons.

Capture the Flag:

GTA Online’s take on the classic CTF mode including the ability to make your own using The Content Creator.

Heists:

This update will introduce full-on cooperative Heist missions that will require careful planning, teamwork and sharp execution – along with the Heist Planning Board for your apartment.