Grand Theft Auto IV is freezing up on some consoles. Rockstar attempting to solve the issue

30 April 2008

67 Comments

Posted by:Ferry

Grand Theft Auto IV is freezing up during the intro cut-scene to the game on certain PlayStation 3 60GB and Xbox 360 consoles. There have also been reports of the game freezing up during driving sequences. None of this seems to be a game problem, but rather, depends (at random) on your console. The bright side is you won’t have to return your copy of the game, the downside is that Rockstar has no clue what’s causing the issue, but is trying to figure out a fix.
[Read the May 3 update below for a temporary fix]

To quote Rockstar support: “The problem is apparently only effecting the 60 GB version of the PlayStation 3. But the problem is not across the board for the 60GB PS3s but rather only impacts some, so tech support are working around the clock to try and figure out what is causing the issue.”

The Xbox 360 is having the exact same problem, which has further stumped their tech folks. “They really have no idea when a fix will be coming because they can’t figure out what is exactly causing the problem.” Is a patch coming soon? No one knows. — Via Kotaku

May 2 UPDATE: It’s been days and Rockstar hasn’t fixed the issues with the game yet. We suggest you call them and tell them what problems you’re having, you can also email them. Here are all the phone numbers you’ll need to call Rockstar support in your country.

For Support in the US
Phone: 1-866-405-5464
Email: usa@rockstarsupport.com

For Support in Canada
Phone: 1-800-269-5721
Email: canada@rockstarsupport.com

For Support in the UK
Phone: 08701 200060
Email: uk@rockstarsupport.com
URL: http://www.take2games.co.uk/index.php?p=support_contact

For Support in Australia
Phone: 1902 262 606 – $2.48 + GST per minute (higher from mobile and public phones)
URL: http://www.take2games.com.au/index.php?p=support_contact

For Support in New Zealand
Phone: 0900 54263 – $1.99 + GST per minute
URL: http://www.take2games.com.au/index.php?p=support_contact

For Support in Spain
Phone: (+34) 91 636 39 25
Email: take2@take2espana.com
URL: http://www.taketwo.es/index.php?p=support_contact

For Support in Germany
Phone: http://www.take2.de/index.php?p=support_contact
URL: http://www.take2.de/index.php?p=support_online

For Support in France
Phone: 0890 808 809 (0,15 € TTC / min)
Email: take2@callcenter.fr
URL: http://www.taketwo.fr/index.php?p=support

For Support in Italy
URL: http://www.take2.it/assistenza/contacthelp.asp

If your country isn’t listed, you can look up your local Rockstar support phone number in the back of your Grand Theft Auto IV manual.

May 3 UPDATE FOR A FIX: Readers oknowwhat & Harryarmy were told by Rockstar that the single player mode (cutscenes) freezing up can be fixed by logging out of your online user account. Or by turning off the internet connection to your console, you can do this by going into network connections and disable the wireless or wired internet connection. Of course that is just a temporary solution and won’t solve the multiplayer problems, but it’s a start.

May 4 UPDATE: Rockstar told Rob to try the following:

1) Delete the games install data. This is done via the PS3 options. Scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the ‘Game’ tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the ‘Game Data Utility’ Enter this and locate the GTA IV option. Highlight this and press triangle once, from the menu select Delete. This will delete the games install information.

2) Delete the games save files. To delete any save files you will need to do the following. Scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the ‘Game’ tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the ‘Save Data Utility’ Enter this and locate the GTA IV option. Highlight this and press triangle once, and from the context menu select Delete.

3) Disable your internet connectivity for the PS3. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the ‘Settings’ tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the ‘Network Settings’. Now scroll down to the Internet connection option and press x, now select the disable option. Once this has been done unplug the ethernet cable if you are connecting to the internet if using this.

4) Disable the consoles information board. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the ‘Network’ tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the ‘Information Board’, highlight this and press triangle. From the menu select ‘Do not display’ Press X to confirm this.

5) Disable Media Server functionality. Scroll to Settings, now scroll up / down to ‘Network Settings’ select Media Server connection. Once this has been done press triangle and change the option Disabled.

6) Delete all of the systems internet cache. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the ‘Network’ tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the ‘Internet Browser’, highlight this and press X. Once you browser opens press the triangle button once, from the new menu highlight the ‘Tools’ option and press X. Scroll down the menu until you reach ‘Delete Cookies’ and press X. Confirm the files deletion. Repeat this for ‘Delete Cache’.

7 ) Turn off the PS3 screen saver. Use the cross media bar to scroll to ‘Settings’, select ‘Display Settings’. Now highlight ‘Screensaver’ and set this to ‘Do not use’.

8 ) Once this has been done manually restart you PS3 by holding down the power button for 5 seconds it will beep once and then shut down. Release the power button and re-press it and hold for about 5 seconds. The system will then boot and reset all display settings. You will prompted to reset your display settings to how you requrie them.

9) Once restarted please try the game again, you will be prompted to reinstall.

Once the game has started please turn off the following features:

10) The games auto-save. Press Start, Game, and locate the Auto-save option. Turn this off.

12) Turn off the games flicker filter. Press Start, Display and locate the Flicker Filter option. Turn this off.

13) Turn off the controller vibration feature. Press Start, Controls and locate the vibration option. Turn this off.

Now try playing the game as normal. If that doesn’t stop the freezing you need to contact Rockstar again to tell them when and where the game freezes up, so that they are better aware of the problem to fix it.

May 7 UPDATE: Rockstar has released a Grand Theft Auto IV PS3 multiplayer patch for download.