‘GTA Online’ Rings In The New Year With The Second Snowfall Event Of The Season
Rockstar Games has celebrated the winter holiday season every year in Grand Theft Auto V by updating the title’s online multiplayer mode with limited snowy weather. As the Inquisitr reported last week, the developer already brought the annual winter event to GTA Online this year by blanketing Los Santos and surrounding counties in snow just in time for Christmas. However, the developer is now hinting that they plan to celebrate the start of 2016 by hosting the second snow event in GTA Online in as many weeks.
Keep an eye out for the rare Los Santos snow phenomenon over the next few days in #GTAOnline https://t.co/Yh2Rogqju6
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) December 30, 2015
Grand Theft Auto V naturally features a dynamic weather system that allows online users to experience a wide variety of different weather types that can change the game’s normally sunny weather into everything from drizzling showers to frantic thunderstorms. Since GTA V‘s Los Santos is based on real world Los Angeles, however, snow can’t normally be found in the game outside of the special seasonal events.
When Rockstar Games does bring rare snowfall to Grand Theft Auto Online, players will find the title’s entire open-world map transformed into a festive, snow-covered winter wonderland. Besides the obvious visual differences that the weather event adds to the game as Los Santos is suddenly powdered in white, snow also causes a few actual gameplay changes to GTA V.
Similar to how rain can affect tire traction in the game, snow too causes slick driving conditions. Players will likely find it hard to safely stay on the streets in GTA Online. This can result in some impromptu off-road activities, not to mention plenty of entertaining in-game accidents. Gamers are also able to enjoy the snow on foot. Whenever snowfall is present in the game, players can make their online characters gather up a handful in order to participate in their own snowball fights with friends.
Like all major updates for Grand Theft Auto V, the winter weather events only affect the online portions of the game. Users won’t be able to see a snow-covered Los Santos while playing the title’s single player story mode. Rockstar Games’ continued support of GTA Online with frequent content updates has caused some controversy among fans who are still awaiting news of possible new features for GTA V‘s offline campaign. Shortly after the developer announced their plans to bring back snow to GTA Online as part of an in-game New Year’s celebration, some gamers responded with complaints over the snow’s absence from the single player mode.
@RockstarGames @Hanyaka2209 single player could do with a big uodate instead of just vehicles and weapons all the time
— Ryan David Small (@RyanSmall70) December 31, 2015
This anger is likely fueled by confusion over whether Rockstar Games has any plan to release any true single player DLC for Grand Theft Auto V. When the game first launched on last-gen platforms in 2013, it was assumed that there would be campaign add-ons released for the title. However, as time passes, many are beginning to grow impatient over the developer’s silence regarding the possible future as far as DLC is concerned.
In the meantime, gamers will have to entertain themselves with the constant updates featuring new content that are regularly released for Grand Theft Auto Online. When the year’s first snow comes to the game, players will be able to enjoy the rare weather across all platforms. While most new content is no longer made available to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 users due to hardware limitations, all snowfall events do still come to both old and new systems alike.
Are you a fan of GTA Online‘s snowy winter updates?
[Image via Rockstar Games]
