Rockstar to give GTA Online players $500,000 after technical hiccups

Rockstar games has said it will provide a "stimulus package" of $500,000 in-game dollars for Grand Theft Auto Online after some of the recent technical issues that have been affecting the game since launch.

The money will be split across two payments to anyone who plays Grand Theft Auto Online in October, with the first payment of $250,000 arriving as early as next week, Rockstar says on its blog.

"In order to keep the current worldwide in-game economy balanced," says Rockstar, "we will be providing this GTA$ to players via two deposits of $250,000. We will announce specific dates as soon as possible, but are currently hoping to be able to make the first deposit by the end of next week (after we’ve confirmed that issues causing game progress loss have been fixed) with the second installment to happen by the end of the month."

Grand Theft Auto Online, the multiplayer component to Grand Theft Auto V, launched on October 1, but users quickly started reporting problems as thousands of players tried to connect.

"For players who experienced cloud server errors, connection issues, and lost game progress and characters in these first days of GTA Online, we hope this GTA$ helps to facilitate a fresh start or makes your continued life in Los Santos and Blaine County extra sweet."

In order to get access to the money, players must download title update 1.04 when it's released next week, which Rockstar says should also clear up any remaining instances of losing purchased vehicles.

After playing the game in October and downloading the title update 1.04, the money should automatically appear in players' GTA Online bank accounts.

Grand Theft Auto Online's storefront sells bundles of $500,000 in-game dollars for $10/£6.99.