We have unfortunate news about Grand Theft Auto Online for current players straight from Rockstar themselves. If you have been trying to log back in to get into the game’s servers this whole time, it seems that the save data you accumulated for that game may be irretrievable.
There are two separate incidents where fans have independently verified this information, and both times it comes from Rockstar themselves.
One is from a fan who contacted Rockstar directly about their issues saving and loading their progress in the game, including character and item data. This is not only a case of their servers being overloaded, but cloud saving also being hampered. Rockstar is still in the middle of investigating this issue, and so they are momentarily informing everyone that the save data is deleted, with little to no chance to get it back. Again, bear in mind this is one private email which came earlier.
Later, Rockstar posted on their support site to clarify that they are at work to establish the cause for all the lost data, as well as figuring out how they can restore progress and value that was lost. They are also figuring out options for players who were affected by this issue.
For the moment, the game has been adjusted so that when Rockstar Cloud Services are not available, you will be told you can keep playing off the disc, with a temporary character who will not be saved. This character will stay temporary even if the cloud comes back online.
Finally, Rockstar provides new cautions. If you have been able to play GTA Online on the cloud, pause the game and pick return to Single Player to auto-save your progress completely. Most importantly, when you get the message “Rockstar Cloud Servers are unavailable” do not click on Retry. If you do want to play GTA Online when the cloud is down, the best way to do it is to exit to Story Mode, pause, and then enter GTA Online from there.
So now it is a little clearer why Rockstar temporarily shut off microtransactions in game. That patch just can't arrive early enough.
