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Last week, Epic Games Store did the unthinkable and made GTA 5 available for free on PC. Despite the game approaching its seven-year anniversary, it remains one of the most popular games around. In fact, Epic underestimated the demand it would get; soon after the game featured on the store, the website crashed. Things have smoothed out since, on that front, however, other issues have spiked up in its stead.

Online gaming and hackers pretty much go hand-in-hand. Inexplicable as it may seem to honest gamers, there are users who are always happy to cheat. And when it comes to a game as popular as Grand Theft Auto, hackers are part of the package.

Free GTA 5 ruins GTA Online

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The single-player campaign in GTA 5 is, no doubt, still massively popular. Nevertheless, the primary reason for people rushing to get the free copy of the premium edition of the game was GTA Online.

The game has always had its share of cheats, but it was something the community could live by. Not surprisingly, hackers and modders have invaded GTA Online like never before since last week. As you can imagine, PC users on the online game are left frustrated with the various antics of these hackers.

In a game like GTA, modding and hacking enable a wide range of possible ways to ruin the experience for all users. According to a report in Kotaku, hackers are disrupting the game by “spawning hundreds of large planes, crashing servers, or trapping players in cages.”

And that wasn’t all, GTA Online’s servers took a hit too. Many servers in major regions crashed, disabling users from login in.

Sheesh. Talk about annoying the community.

Many took to social media forums and platforms to vent their frustration at Epic Games Stores.

Also ReadFans Get Angry On Twitter For Being Unable To Access GTA V

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Many paid premium users are annoyed that giving away the game for free has ruined their experience. Understandable as that may be, not all free users are the problem. The real responsibility lies on the shoulders of Rockstar. They have certainly failed in their preparations for this influx of users. The absence of a state of the art anti-cheat software would surely have helped too. Alas, it is but a dream in the GTA 5 universe.

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Let’s wait and watch how things proceed, and if these issues put honest gamers off the game.

What would be the best solution for moving forward? Any ingenious ideas you have swirling around in that brain of yours?