If you've been conscious in the world for the last few weeks, you've noticed GTA V. It made over a billion dollars in a week and literally the only thing any human with language skills will talk about. Or sign about. All that, and the online section of the game isn't even live yet. GTA Online promises the same massively open world as the single player, but populated by bell-ends calling you a n00b and running you down with a bus that says COCK on the side.
There's been discussion around the web that Rockstar, developers of GTA, would be introducing micro-payments for the first time; those small amounts of real cash that people spend to buy virtual things that don't exist. It's a much maligned feature of modern gaming that has seen EA voted as Worst Company in America for three solid years, but Rockstar says their version won't be gratuitous.
Unlike titles such as Madden, GTA V Online won't require players to pay for things in order to progress through the game. You'll use real money to buy bundles of fake money to make life slightly easier for you, but you'll be no means be buying a massive advantage.
The bundles are said to start at £1.99 actual currency for $100,000 virtual, but that's yet to be confirmed. Rockstar assure gamers that there'll be no "pay to win" shortcuts and that anyone who plays without coughing up will be able to progress just as well as those who do.
The economy of GTA V single player and GTA V online will be exclusive to one another, and so money you earn (or buy) online won't transfer to your single player campaign and vice versa.
They do warn you to beware with using your hard earned to purchase unearned, because by the very nature of the game anything you buy can be stolen. Which actually makes it real theft, sort of. An extra level of enjoyment for you, something else to rally against for the media. Everyone's a winner.
Words by Gazz Wood
Gazz Wood is a writer from The Northern Film School at Leeds Met University. As well as writing for Wireless he can also be heard on the monthly podcast Possibly of Interest with TV Producer Howard Cohen and special guests from the world of British TV and Cinema, plus his own weekly show Gazz Wood Has A Podcast. He can also be followed on Twitter @GazzPH90
