GTA Online's microtransaction features have been disabled as part of Rockstar's effort to tackle widespread server issues.
Connection problems continue to plague the online portion of GTA V as millions of gamers overwhelm the servers since its launch on Tuesday. While Rockstar's efforts are ongoing, the firm has issued an update to confirm that microtransactions have been disabled temporarily.
"For the time being and until we have been able to get everybody access to GTA Online and things are running smoothly, we have disabled the option of purchasable GTA$ cash packs," confirms Rockstar.
"Players can however keep on earning GTA$ by pulling off Jobs and other profitable gameplay activities rather than purchasing cash packs."
The firm has also said that a networking issue affecting PS3 users has been resolved. "For PlayStation 3 users, a PlayStation Network server issue was detected that was limiting the amount of possible concurrent users," it explains. "This was preventing most players from accessing GTA Online altogether and as of this morning, that problem was resolved."
The developer is also working on issues with players not being able to complete the tutorial mission, and other stability issues. "We are identifying these issues now and are working to restore stability for users as soon as possible," said Rockstar.
The developer said earlier today that it is "working around the clock" to address issues affecting GTA Online, after having warned players before launch that the service would likely suffer the natural teething problems.
Rockstar has listed nine known issues with GTA Online, but it has yet to acknowledge claims from some users that their single player save file has been deleted since going online.
We recommend creating backups of your single-player save files to a USB memory stick before trying to play GTAO.