Rockstar says sorry to GTA Online players for issues with half a million in cash each

Rockstar released its latest patch yesterday to fix many of the remaining issues that have plagued GTA Online since its launch on 1 October. And to say sorry to the hundreds of thousands of players who have persevered with the massively multiplayer version of Grand Theft Auto V, it is giving every single one of them a huge pile of cash. Half a million dollars each.

Sadly, that's in game money rather than real - Rockstar is humble, not insane - but still, it's a lot of money to spend on in-game items, cars, houses and the like. For example, until it suspended the use of in-game purchases while the problems were being ironed out, a GTA$500,000 Bull Shark Cash Card was worth £6.99. So that's effectively seven quid for each and every player in the game.

Read: Grand Theft Auto V review

There are caveats attached with the "special stimulus package". In order to keep the current worldwide in-game economy balanced, Rockstar will deposit the money in players' accounts in lump sums of GTA$250,000 each.

To qualify for the payments you must play or have played GTA Online at any time during the month of October. Another title update will be required beforehand, which will arrive next week.

The developer will announce the exact dates on which these payments will be made in due course, but it is hoping to give players the first instalment next week, with the second before the end of the month.

"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," Rockstar said in a statement.

It is also hoping that things run much more smoothly from now, "Touch wood!"