Grand Theft Auto V's online mode won't be available at launch

Grand Theft Auto V's online component, Grand Theft Auto Online, won't be available when the game launches worldwide on September 17, developer Rockstar Games has announced.

Instead, Grand Theft Auto Online will be available as a free download from October 1. The online mode for the game will overlap with the single-player campaign, but the character the player creates for Grand Theft Auto Online will be separate from GTAV protagonist trio Michael, Franklin, and Trevor.

Upon selecting a Grand Theft Auto Online character, the game will automatically place players into an already-populated world. The world contains its own characters and ambient events, but players can also create their own missions, such as races and deathmatches, and share them with friends.

GameSpot recently visited Rockstar North to see Grand Theft Auto Online in action and discover more details about the game. "Grand Theft Auto Online represents Rockstar's effort to deliver on the multiplayer GTA we've all been dreaming of since the beginning," said GameSpot's Shaun McInnis, "balancing the unpredictability of an open world with the careful design of a multiplayer progression system."

"How close are they to delivering on that potential? Let's put it this way: October 1 can't get here soon enough."