GTA 5 Online Heists and More Improved in Latest Update

Rockstar Games has rolled out a new update for open-world action game Grand Theft Auto V that makes a variety of changes to GTA Online--including improvements to its online Heists mode--and more.

Patch 1.23 for Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 and Patch 1.09 for Xbox One/PlayStation 4 is available now. The patch introduces a new option for the Heist Planning Board that allows players to press Left on the D-pad to quickly join a Heist as a crew member.

Rockstar has also made improvements to GTA Online's "auto-invite" matchmaking option in an effort to fill lobbies faster, including lobbies for Heists specifically.

The full patch notes are available below.

Last week, players reported that GTA V's graphics for the Xbox One and PS4 editions took a hit after applying the latest patch. It's unclear, however, if the new update also fixes that issue. We've followed up with Rockstar, asking for further clarification on the matter.

GTA V recently introduced the long-awaited online Heists mode, which faced some struggles at release but should now be working just fine. For lots more on GTA V Heists, check out the video above.

GTA V 1.23/1.09 Patch Notes:

New Features / Updates

• Changes have been made to the matchmaking options and UI. This affects:
  • Heist Planning Board
    • A new option has been added to the Heist Planning Board that will allow you to press Left on the D-pad to quickly join a Heist as a crew member. You must have an active Heist in order to access this feature.
  • Heist Lobby
    • A "Matchmaking" option has been added to Heist lobbies that allows the Host to quickly change whether matchmaking is open or closed. When set to “Closed," only invited players can connect with the Heist lobby. This option is “Closed" by default, which means only players you invite can join the session.
    • The “Client Invites" option has been reinstated for the host of the lobby that is “On" by default. This allows players that have joined the Heist to invite their friends. If you only want the host to be able to send invites, “Client Invites" should be set to “Off."
  • Improvements to the “Auto-Invite" matchmaking option to help fill lobbies faster
  • Improvements to matchmaking for Heists to fill lobbies faster

Miscellaneous Fixes

• Fixed a minor animation issue when throwing grenades while aiming on the PS4
• Fixed an issue where the Bad Sport flag was not correctly being removed from certain players' accounts
• Fixed an issue where vehicle frames were not visually displaying damage correctly when heavily damaged
• Fixed an issue where a black screen was appearing when PSN was down
• Fixed an issue where the “Looking for job" display was being removed after accessing the Internet from the in-game phone, even though matchmaking was still in progress
• Fixed an issue where the player could lose control of character after backing out of hacking the vault in one of the Heists
• Fixed a rare issue where the player could get stuck on a cutscene if launching a certain Heist while in Ron's Survival introduction
• Fixed an issue where Criminal Mastermind progression was occasionally not tracking properly
• Fixed an issue where players could spawn multiple parachutes
• Fixed an issue with the time of day on one of the Heists
• Fixed a possible crash when a One on One Deathmatch was initiated around the same time as a Heist invite
• Fixed an issue where a Kraken could be replaced by a Dinghy after receiving a Title Update
• Fixed an issue where a previous fix for character appearance changes was not applied correctly if the player was wearing a mask
• Fixed a rare issue where players could get stuck on a black screen when trying to enter GTA Online
• Fixed an issue where the objective could display incorrectly after evidence was picked up in one of the missions
• Fixed a rare issue with lost player control after accepting a cross-session invite
• Fix for issue where some players were experiencing freezing when trying to use the in-game cell phone in Story Mode
• Fixed miscellaneous recent exploits
• Other minor fixes for GTA Online and Story Mode to improve general stability