It's been a little over a month since the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, but Rockstar's latest installment in the franchise continues to stay in the news on a daily basis. From drama over lost characters and progression thanks to GTA Online's rocky start to in-game apology packages, console gamers have had nonstop Los Santos action for the past four weeks.
PC gamers, on the other hand, are still waiting for their invitation to the GTAV party and a steady stream of rumors about a PC port have helped fuel the fire. Luckily, more evidence suggests a PC release is indeed being planned.
Just two weeks ago, Intel Director of Marketing for Premium Notebooks Chris Silva showed support for the movement to bring GTAV to PCs, despite acknowledging the financial motivations for keeping the game on the console first. Silva believes that the game won't remain console exclusive for "very long" and there are over 600,000 petition-signing PC gamers that hope he is right.
Those PC enthusiasts saw another glimmer of hope this week when a user on the Guru3d forum spotted some GTAV code in the latest AMD Catalyst driver:
<application Title="Grand Theft Auto V" File="GTA5.exe">
<use Area="PXDynamic">HighPerfGPUAffinity</use>
</application>"
The code went on to mention some other games including Assassin's Creed 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts, but GTAV's inclusion in the list was the only real surprise. Readers that doubt the validity of the forum post can actually follow directions left by Kkn00tn (who found it) on how to locate the file and examine the code for themselves. It's not a confirmation or official announcement by a long shot, but it is another strong indicator that fans will see a PC port somewhere in the game's future.
It's unlikely that Rockstar Games won't want to bring the highly profitable title to another platform, but PC fans won't rest until they hear a definite confirmation. Considering the fact that Rockstar's open-world western, Red Dead Redemption, still hasn't found its way to the PC (and a sequel may already be on the way), it's understandable that the PC crowd is a little worried.
There may be no official news for PC users, but console gamers now have an additional option for picking up GTAV. Xbox 360 users no longer need to leave the comfort of their couches to purchase the game, thanks to a digital download available now through Xbox Live. Players can pick up the 7.63 GB download for $59.99.
After the record-breaking sales during the game's first week, it's hard to imagine there are too many interested Xbox 360 owners out there that haven't already picked up the physical copy, but it can't hurt to give the last remaining holdouts the convenience of a digital option. The digital download may by a good alternative for consumers who are mostly interested in GTA Online and were waiting for the messy launch to settle down. Rockstar is still making updates to the online side of the game, but it is far easier to log in and perform some heists with your crew than it was a week or two ago.
Are you still holding out for a PC port or are you already cruising through Los Santos on a console? Sound off in the comments.
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Grand Theft Auto 5 is currently available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Follow Denny on Twitter @The_DFC.