Notes

Grand Theft Auto Online Launch Affected by Server Issues

Grand Theft Auto Online launch was hit by server issues



2 October 2013



The launch of Grand Theft Auto Online has hit substantial teething problems, as the anticipated flood of players has stretched Rockstar Games's servers to the limit.



Players have encountered a variety of errors such as "Rockstar cloud servers are not available," as well as screen freezing and slow loading issues.



One message reads: "Mission failed," as soon as the mission starts.



Rockstar stated that it was "working all hours of the day" to solve the issue.



The company stated on its website that it apologizes for any inconvenience caused and thanked customers for their patience while they work to resolve the problem.



Console makers, such as Sony PlayStation, have been receiving complaints from frustrated players experiencing problems with the game.



The players who are furious have been making their feelings known on Twitter. Zehngamescanada.com One wrote: "GTA online has more launch issues than North Korea ..."



'Temperamental'



Last week Rockstar North admitted it was facing "unanticipated" pressure due to the fact that the sales of GTA 5 had been stronger than expected.



The blog's description reads "We are working 24/7 to purchase and add servers,"



It also stated that things could be "more unstable than they generally are" because the sheer number of computers could cause their own problems.



The online version of the 18-rated violent crime game can be played by up to 16 players simultaneously in a virtual setting. Players can also create avatars and interact with each other.



It comes free with every copy of the GTA 5 console game. One analyst estimates that more than 15 million copies of the title were sold by last week.



"A conservative estimate would indicate that approximately two million players will join GTA Online in the first 24 hours," said Keza MacDonald (UK games editor, IGN.com), the gaming and entertainment site.



"Rockstar has never played online games in this size before, so they are completely unproven in terms of their infrastructure for networks.



"And even the highly successful World of Warcraft at its peak didn't have as many people playing online at the same time as GTA is likely to have, so it shouldn't be a surprise that there were issues."



Sluggish



Other bestsellers have faced issues due to servers failing to cope with demand.



Electronic Art's Sim City requires that players sign in to their servers in order to play. This means that players had to endure long waits to get started and then had to play at a slower pace following the release.



EA apologized later and provided a free title to those affected as compensation. The company said that more users had logged on than it had anticipated, and added that they played differently to the way its testers had.



The year before, Activision Blizzard saw its servers for Diablo 3 come under severe pressure after the game's launch.



The hashtag #error37 became popular on Twitter after players were shown the code alongside a message telling them to wait and try to log on later. To lessen demand, the company temporarily took its websites offline.



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Rockstar North



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