So, you go to log into GTA Online only to find that you have no money, your account has been reset, or even worse – your account has been banned altogether. So, what the hell happened? Well, Rockstar just made a major push to penalize players that used the in-game cash exploit known as the apartment garage glitch.
The penalization for the exploit has come along with a patch that prevents you from taking advantage of the exploit ever again, and it comes without warning. Rockstar managed to identify everyone who used the exploit, and seemingly overnight, reset their accounts back to zero. Anyone penalized in this push has lost all the progress they have made since starting the game – some of which go back the entire seven years the game has been on the market.
Rockstar recently explained its decision on its official support pages and explained that
“As part of our ongoing efforts to maintain a healthy game environment for all players, anyone found to be abusing exploits and cheats to illegitimately gain GTA$ and in-game items may be subject to penalties including cash balance adjustments, character resets, suspensions, and up to permanent bans as appropriate.”
Obviously, this hit can be pretty devastating for those that have made the most out of the exploit while it was available, but at the same time, it’s not exactly fair that some people are able to rack up as much money as they want for free while others are forced to earn it or purchase it with real-world currency. GTA Online might be used as a life simulator at times, but it doesn’t have a welfare department.
Naturally, there has been a bunch of backlash over the massive deployment of penalties, and Rockstar has, so far, remained silent. Even if the studio decided to reverse its decision it’s not clear if it could or not, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated with anything new that comes our way. For what it’s worth, it’s probably best to keep an eye on the official GTA Online and GTA V patch notes to make sure you know what’s going on behind the curtains.
In the meantime, be sure to check out our full list of GTA 5 cheats or learn about the next big update coming to GTA Online. If you’re looking to make GTA V look way better on the PC, you can check out our list of 4K and realism mods for GTA V (and how to install them).
In early September 2020, Rockstar managed to identify anyone that took advantage of the long-running apartment garage glitch and reset all accounts to zero, effectively erasing any progress those players made during the lifespan of their account. At the same time, Rockstar announced that it would continue to crack down on players that exploit any bug or hack to get free GTA$ or free in-game items.
The apartment garage glitch in GTA Online would allow players to make millions of in-game GTA$ by tricking the game. Basically, all you had to do was purchase a property and then work through a series of menus. As of September 2020, Rockstar has patched the exploit (after ignoring it for years) and penalized all players that had taken advantage of it over the last seven years.
