Grand Theft Auto 5 made its highly anticipated debut tonight on PC, and as is the case with most major game releases these days, there appears to be a problem.
According to user reports, GTA 5 is experiencing problems installing and even just playing GTA 5 on PC. Issues reportedly include an error message that reads "The Rockstar update service is unavailable (code 1)", or the game hanging while attempting to download the update.
Both Valve and developer Rockstar Games have acknowledged the issues some users are experiencing, specifically noting those affected are people with a Windows user name that includes characters other than A-Z, a-z and 0-9. The good news is Rockstar is working on a fix.
"We have identified an issue where players with Windows usernames that include characters not found in the table at the bottom of this page will likely run into difficulties when attempting to download, install, or play GTAV. We are currently working on a fix for this issue," Rockstar said on its support page.
For those who don't want to wait for a fix, there are two options. Rockstar recommends creating a new Administrator User ACcount for your Windows system that includes only the letters A to Z, a to z or numbers 0-9 from the basic roman alphabet.
Once your new account is created (or if you already have an account that only uses these characters) we recommend you restart your PC and log in with that account before starting or continuing with the installation process. To create the account, follow these instructions from Microsoft’s website:
- Windows 8/8.1: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-8
- Windows 7: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-7
- Windows Vista: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-vista
Digital distributor Valve, meanwhile, has offered fans another solution: a refund. For those fed up with broken game launches, you can use the self-refund tool which will be available until the official fix is released (via Pixel Dynamo).
It's unfortunate, but launch day issues are becoming somewhat of a norm for the gaming industry — especially for Grand Theft Auto 5 which has already experienced problems with past launches on other platforms.
