GTA Online , the connected, multiplayer-enabling element of the GTA 5 game, has been taken offline in order to carry out essential maintenance.
The blackout, which will affect all GTA Online users is set to kick off in the early hours of tomorrow morning, January 16, continuing for around 24 hours.
“Grand Theft Auto Online will be down for maintenance beginning tonight at 2AM British Standard Time through tomorrow, Thursday January 16th,” an official Rockstar spokesperson has confirmed.
They added: “We expect to be back up within 24 hours. Apologies for the inconvenience.”
While it is unclear exactly what updates and improvements Rockstar is making to the GTA Online platform, earlier this month the gaming giant suggested that the service would continue to “evolve” throughout the year based on consumer feedback.
The publisher stated: “There are always things that come up during development that you want to add. Often we do, but the closer you get to release, the less that happens.”
Aaron Garbut, Rockstar’s Art Director from the GTA 5 project added: “I don’t feel like the game fell short, but there is undoubtedly a huge volume of plans and ideas that we wanted to do to push it further.”
He added: “What I love about GTA Online plans is that the game is no longer static. We can continue to add these things and evolve.
“That’s even more exciting these days, where through forums, Reddit, etc, we have a real direct connection to the people playing the game. We can respond to what they are into and what they hate more than ever.”
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