Rockstar’s biggest, fastest and best selling game of all time, Grand Theft Auto V , has had a batch of cheaters taking advantage of it’s in-game economy in recent weeks. The developer posted about this issue on it’s official newswire today, warning any offenders that it will take action against any cheaters who willfully exploit the game and disrupt the experience for other players.
According to the post, a small number of cheaters within GTA: Online have found a way to generate and distribute “game-breaking amounts of in-game cash” into the game’s economy, and indirectly to other players too. Rockstar is currently in the process of counteracting the influence and impact of the illegally generated in-game money by continuing to put out title updates on a regular basis, to negate what effects the cheating has had on the game’s gameplay.
As part of the game’s maintenance period that started yesterday night (which closed down the game from 9PM Eastern Time, and it is expected that the game will be back up within 24 hours from that time), Rockstar will be removing the counterfeit in-game money from GTA: Online’s economy. The developer warns that anyone who has actively parta ken “in cheating and exploiting the game in this manner” will be met with in-game penalties at the developer’s discretion. This could include (but may not be limited to) isolating offenders to cheater pools, thus segregating them from other players, or outright banning them from GTA: Online altogether.
For those of you who have innocently received counterfeit in-game money as a result of this exploit (meaning you did not actively cheat to acquire it, but instead received it indirectly through the game’s economy) will face no further action–the offending money will just be removed from your wallet, and you’ll still be able to keep any items you currently own.
Rockstar encourages you to notify it via the in-game reporting functionality whenever you see or encounter a player (or players) within GTA: Online whom you suspect to be actively “taking advantage of exploits in your session.” To do this, go to the Pause menu, navigate your way to the Online tab and select players, then scroll through the list until you find the offending player. From there, select Report and hit Exploits from the violation options.
Rockstar also thanks the players who have continually supported it in dealing with these issues and apologizes for any player who has had their experience “sullied by these exploits that broke the game’s natural flow.”