We just got word that Rockstar Games is tracking Gamertags and PSN IDs for people who are about to play Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) in the UK.

The company is asking on which platform gamers prefer to play the title. The curious and most obvious question now to ask is why.

It's a good thing that Rockstar has included explanations and these differ for the two platforms. Regarding the PlayStation 3 build, this is what Rockstar mentioned:

There are no privacy settings that can be set on the PS3 but we will still be tracking who is going on line so again it will make it easier for us to identify you as a genuine user if we have your ID.

The development company then went on and explained why it also needs the Gamertags of players who will be trying GTA IV on the Xbox 360. To avoid the confusion, here's the explanation verbatim:

We need your Gamertag because Microsoft will be helping Rockstar Games monitor access to the online modes up to release date. Because of this, we will need to add your Gamertag to the approved list of gamers who can play online prior to release.

In addition to supplying this information, if you do intend to go online before April 29th, you will need to change a couple of the basic settings on your Xbox 360 and keep these settings like this till the game comes out, otherwise other people will be able to see your achievements list for GTA IV (even if you are playing another game) and we’d like to keep that information back for the fans.

You will have to switch your profile to private and appear off line. We have attached a document that explains exactly how you do this just in case.

That's about it for this update regarding Grand Theft Auto IV. Keep checking back here at QJ.NET in case we pick up some more updates.



Buy: [GTA IV (PS3)]
Buy: [GTA IV (Xbox 360)]