GTA Online loading times are now benefitting from a fan-made fix

Update: The fan-made fix designed to help reduce loading times in GTA 5 and GTA Online is now live.

In a tweet, Rockstar support announced that "a new title update is now available for Grand Theft Auto V and GTA Online, including improvements to load times on the PC version of GTA Online." In the attached version 1.53 patch notes, "improvements to PC loading times" are included, along with a message reading "thanks to t0st for his contributions around this part of today's title update," referencing the fan who identified the potential fix.

According to PC Gamer, players are already feeling the effects, with load times reportedly dropping from 7 to 8 minutes to as little as 35 seconds in some cases. That's certainly at the top end of results, but even less impressive changes could see a minute or two shaved off your times.

Original story: A GTA Online hacker figured out how to reduce load times by up to 70 percent, and Rockstar isn't just thanking them for it - they're using that solution in an upcoming update, reports PC Gamer.

GitHub user tostercx (aka T0st), details how they cut GTA Online load times by 70% in a blog post. T0st picked up the game after some time away from the world of Los Santos, and was "shocked to discover that it still loads just as slow as the day it was released seven years ago." So, they decided to work towards reducing the load times - the post contains a detailed technical analysis of just how they pulled it off, if that interests you/makes any sense. TL;DR: it was being caused by a "single thread CPU bottleneck" while booting up GTA Online, which they suggest "shouldn't take more than a day for a single dev to solve."

Rockstar has confirmed to PC Gamer that this solution works and that the company will be implementing it in an upcoming update. "After a thorough investigation, we can confirm that player t0st did, in fact, reveal an aspect of the game code related to load times for the PC version of GTA Online that could be improved," the company said in a statement. "As a result of these investigations, we have made some changes that will be implemented in a forthcoming title update."

It's not clear when Rockstar will issue the GTA Online patch, but we've been waiting more than six minutes every time we boot up the game, I think we can wait a little longer.

Expect the update to come in the latest GTA Online patch notes.

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.