Rockstar says Grand Theft Auto 5's offline mode was disabled by a bug, not the launcher

(Image credit: Rockstar)

Rockstar rolled out a new game launcher for PC today, which came with a free copy of the great Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas—and, shortly after people got their hands on it—reports that it also changed the Steam version of Grand Theft Auto 5 to disable offline mode. Rockstar has confirmed that this did in fact occur, but said that it's a bug, not an intentional modification, and that no changes were made to the GTA5 DRM.

The Rockstar support site says the studio is aware of an issue "that is affecting some players' ability to play in Offline Mode," and is looking into it. Unfortunately, that's all it says right now. I've reached out to Rockstar to see if a timeframe is available, and I'll update if I receive a reply.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.