GTA Online Update Coming To Fix Load Times, Modder Collects $10,000 Bounty

Rockstar will be implementing a fix to GTA Online's notoriously long load times, thanks to a modder who found the problem and made their own DIY fix. Though Rockstar isn't committing to the 70% reduction that modder tostercx found in tests, the studio did acknowledge that they had correctly identified poor optimization that can be fixed.

"After a thorough investigation, we can confirm that player t0st did, in fact, reveal an aspect of the game code related to load times for the PC version of GTA Online that could be improved," the company said in a statement to PC Gamer. "As a result of these investigations, we have made some changes that will be implemented in a forthcoming title update."

The original mod fixed a bottleneck in the load sequence as it's running checks, leading to the long load times. The modder tostercx aka t0st suggested that a relatively simple fix could be implemented within a day or so. Rockstar's official fix will take a little longer, but it did confirm that it has been in touch with t0st and expressed gratitude for the find. The modder has updated their blog to note that Rockstar paid a $10,000 bounty, by special exemption since that money is usually reserved for those who find security exploits.

GTA V and the connected online game GTA Online have ballooned in size since release, due to steady releases in content and increased fidelity on newer platforms. It's coming to Xbox Series X and PS5 later this year and Rockstar is also planning a standalone GTA Online release, following the lead of Red Dead Online. It has now reached 140 million copies which has led to market saturation, according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. That's at least part of what prompted the move to make it a standalone release.