Rockstar has detailed three fixes for the notorious “waiting for players” or “loading session” screens that have been the talk of online forums:
General network/cloud server issues
- "Rockstar Cloud Servers Unavailable" error message
- "Failed to Host a GTA Online Session" error messages
- Errors saying "Timed out when matchmaking for a compatible GTA Online Session to join"
- Errors about jobs failing to start or load
- Misc. network and server-related error messages, disconnections, or cloud server errors
- Errors saying "Mission Failed" as soon as the mission begins during a session
- Long matchmaking load screens, eventually timing out after 10-15 minutes
- Offline (disc-based) and online content mixing on the Jobs list
- Ending up in a free-roam session with no jobs/markers on the map while playing as a temporary character during a cloud outage
Issues getting past the first Tutorial Race
10/2/13 Note: Some players have reported being able to get into the Tutorial race by re-downloading the Title Update, which can be deleted from Xbox Home or the PS3 XMB (Game Data Utility, NOT save data). Others reported having luck by selecting "Swap Character" from the Online tab within the pause menu, deleting the character that was unable to get into the tutorial, and then creating a new character. Going into GTAO in Solo mode may also help to allow completion of the tutorial. Some who were experience this issue have been able to get in just by trying again later.
- Freezing while loading into first race in GTAO with "waiting for other players" on the screen
- Seeing the same cut-scene twice in a row and then getting stuck on a load screen
- Getting stuck transitioning into the lobby or race while other players are joining/leaving
- Race Corona (start area, marker) not showing up for first race
Social Club Issues
- General issues with the Social Club site and Social Club features (slow loading, failed logins, emails not arriving, etc). For more information on Social Club status, please see: http://support.rockstargames.com/hc/en-us/articles/200357093
We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this. If you would like to receive an automatic email notification whenever major updates are posted, please log into the Support Site and click Subscribe at the top of this page.
Update -- 4:30 PM ET 10/2/13: Here are the latest updates as of this afternoon.
- For PlayStation 3 users, a PlayStation Network server issue was detected that was limiting the amount of possible concurrent users. This was preventing most players from accessing GTA Online altogether and as of this morning, that problem was resolved.
- There is an issue that is preventing some players from getting through the first tutorial mission across both platforms. Many players have been able to get through this with repeated retries, and we are working on unblocking this for everyone as soon as possible.
- This morning, we experienced some instability across the GTA Online services which is affecting even people who have progressed beyond the tutorial mission. We are identifying these issues now and are working to restore stability for users as soon as possible.
- 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. Players can however keep on earning GTA$ by pulling off Jobs and other profitable gameplay activities rather than purchasing cash packs.
Update -- 5:30 PM ET 10/3/13:
- We're currently working on a title update for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to address commonly reported issues with GTA Online. We hope to have it out for download as soon as tomorrow.
Update -- 2:00 PM ET 10/4/13:
- The latest title update for GTA Online is live for PlayStation 3. We're working to have this up for Xbox 360 as soon as possible today.
