Rockstar Games released a new PC version of GTA V on Tuesday, GTA V Enhanced, but it is facing criticism from fans. There are several issues that players have had to deal with since it went live despite it raking in huge playercounts on Steam. Users on Valve’s platform are posting negative reviews and we’ll be taking a look at both the valid and bad faith comments going around.
The Good So Far
Firstly, GTA V Enhanced is a success in terms of numbers. Sure, it is a free version for a very popular game but it quickly overtook the old GTA V Legacy version in concurrent players on Steam during launch day. It peaked at 187,059 concurrent players whereas the original version capped out at 133,569 for the day. To add, the last time GTA V Legacy broke 187k players was about a month ago.
Fans have praised the performance improvements made to the game. Under the hood, Rockstar Games have optimised GTA V on PC with the Enhanced edition. Despite boasting improved graphics settings and features, it is running quite well.
Users are reporting similar frame rates as the original version with demanding effects such as ray traced global illumination enabled. Steam Deck users opting to play Single Player have also shared appreciation for the game running well with better graphics on Valve’s handheld device. A decade on from the original PC launch, fans with newer hardware are happy to enjoy an improved version of the game late into the game’s lifecycle; for free too.
Rockstar also are offering a 50% discount on the PC version of GTA V until March 20th. For $15, you get both GTA V Enhanced, GTA V Legacy and GTA Online’s Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack if you don’t own GTA V on PC already.
The Bad…
Despite all of that, there have been a few problems from minor to unplayable. All of these issues have culminated in the game’s review score on Steam at 50% with the Mixed tag (at the time of writing). It is not a good look for Rockstar but they’ve had worse controversies.
The bulk of the complaints come from PC players upset over a few things. Firstly, text chat for GTA Online is currently disabled in this version. This is a large complaint within the community. Rockstar Support confirmed to a GTA Forums user that it is not supported at launch and recommend using SMS in-game to communicate. It is unknown if or when this feature will return to GTA Online.
Speaking of GTA Online, a large amount of eager players were met with migration errors. Warning screens told those upgrading to GTA V Enhanced that their character could not be migrated as it is “not eligible”. There has been a lot of speculation for the reasons why. At the moment, Rockstar have not said anything in relation to this issue but are probably working on resolving it.
Another issue preventing a large portion of gamers from enjoying GTA V Enhanced was to do with the Epic Games Store version. It was given away for free a few years ago so a lot of people play GTA V through that launcher. GTA V Enhanced was not displaying for those people but thankfully they did acknowledge it and fixed it for most people. A small group of users are still unable to download it.
One weird thing was this new version launched with a 120FPS cap despite Rockstar initially saying it would support higher frame rates. A workaround was quickly found by the community but thankfully Rockstar ended up removing it. Less than 24 hours after launch, they put out a patch getting rid of the FPS cap which is good to see. That issue is all resolved now.
To add insult to injury, the bonuses that GTA+ is offering this month are lackluster. It has been nearly 3 years since GTA+ launched and PC players have had to watch current gen console players get all the fun. Sure, Rockstar have added a few bonuses due to the delayed released but in terms of money making and such, it is a step down from previous months when PC did not have GTA+.
I also want to mention some players who signed up for GTA+ on PC did not get their membership activated in-game. They were charged but are still awaiting their content. Rockstar Support will be on the case but it is still another mark against the release.
A similar thing can be said for in-game content. The Karin S95 should have been free on its first purchase for all players but instead players were charged $1,995,000. This is a bug and Rockstar Support will refund you the money if you put in a request as many players have shared confirmation of a refund. This was all fixed with the patch on Wednesday.
About It Being A Scam
One thing I will mention, that I disagree with, is GTA V Enhanced being a “scam”. Yes, GTA+ is not always working and yes free car takes in-game money but those will be resolved. I’ve seen a few people claim GTA V Enhanced is a “scam” despite it being a free version for the millions of people who already own GTA V on PC. Rockstar are not selling GTA V Enhanced, they include it with GTA V Legacy from now on.
Some fans were also expecting some dramatic graphics overhaul to perhaps make the game appear closer to GTA 6. Rockstar never touted it as that. That made-up expectation likely is why some people are calling it a “scam”. Personally, a free, optional version for millions of people that improves GTA V in many meaningful ways is not a scam. These quality of life improvements modernise GTA V and GTA Online to an extent, as much as it can for free and when GTA 6 is so close to releasing.
We should see Rockstar rectify most if not all of the issues players are having soon. The free upgrade is appreciated whilst we wait for GTA 6. How’s your experience been with GTA V Enhanced? Let us know down in the comments below.
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