Rockstar Newswire

• Platform (PC, PS3 or Xbox 360)
• Cheater’s Gamertag / ID
• Description of the violation
• If possible, please include concrete evidence, such as a video or a screenshot

Please do not use the previous email address we had in place for Red Dead Redemption, as that is only for past games, and do not use this or any other comment thread to post names of suspected cheaters. Note that we do not ban players for using legitimate tactics to which some players may object, such as camping.  If you are experiencing in-game harassment over voice chat, please block the player and report the Gamertag or PSN ID directly to Microsoft or Sony.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation in helping to keep Max Payne 3 Multiplayer on the up-and-up.

Earlier this week, we spotlighted a few custom Loadout variations favored by members of the Max Payne 3 Multiplayer development team - Loadout combinations specifically well-suited for Max Payne 3's dynamic and story-driven Gang Wars Multiplayer mode. As promised, today's Part Two brings you a couple more custom Loadouts that our internal experts have found effective for upping your K/D ratio in Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch.
 

DEATHMATCH
When it’s every player for themselves, you’ll want to isolate and hunt your enemies, while also taking precautions to hide your movements and avoid being hunted down yourself. Our Deathmatch Loadout is focused on taking out individual enemies quickly and quietly, while also having supplies on standby in case things don’t play out the way you want them to.

Single Handed Slot: M10 (with Silencer)
Two Handed Weapon Slot: MPK (with Laser sight/extended mag)
Burst Slot: Big Dog
Item Head Slot: Balaclava
Item Chest Slot: Urban Camo will make your Gamertag/PSN ID invisible when peeking out from cover
Item Gear Slot: Sneakers will hide your footsteps, so you can sneak up from behind for the kill
Item Gear Slot: Sutures to speed up recovery
Item Gear Slot: Listening Device so that you can always know when someone is behind you

TEAM DEATHMATCH
For Team Deathmatch, you should be looking for a good all-round Loadout, adaptable to many situations but erring on the side of serious firepower with multiple attachments to help ensure that your kill count keeps on rising.

Single Handed Weapon Slot: 1911 (with compensator/mag guide/gas block)
Two Handed Weapon Slot: AK-47 (with barrel upgrade/laser sight/gas systems kit)
Projectile Slot: Grenade to help with enemies in cover and chalk up multikills
Burst Slot: Weapon Double Dealer
Item Chest Slot: Urban Camo
Item Gear Slot: Sneakers
Item Gear Slot: Ammunition pouch
Item Gear Slot: Booby Trap

Give these Loadouts a try and let us know in the comments if they make a difference - or if you think you've found even stronger combinations. Also give us a shout to request anything else specific from Max Payne 3's multiplayer or single-player experience that you'd love some tips on and we may oblige in a future edition.

Previous Rockstar Game Tips:
Max Payne 3 Pro Loadouts Part One - Gang Wars
Tailoring Your Controls in Max Payne 3

Major thanks to every single one of you that joined us for our first two weekends of Max Payne 3 Social Club Multiplayer events. You have proved stiff competition to our crack squad of game developers from across the global Rockstar Game Studios and we saw some spectacular gunplay across various game modes.

YouTube user ShenmueSaga kindly recorded streams of our first four and uploaded them all to YouTube, with handy annotations in the top-right corner that lets you switch between cameras and follow MaxPayneDev1 and MaxPayneDev2 respectively. Cheers ShenmueSaga!

First Blood

For MaxPayneDev1, the Xbox LIVE event on Friday, May 18th started with a game of Gang Wars in Hoboken Alleyways and, true to form, our dev player took the Serial Killer prize for the highest kill streak. After that we headed into Tietê River Docks for a Gang Wars match the included a thrilling siege where assassination target MaxPayneDev1 put up a valiant defense from the warehouse mezzanine and somehow survived Bullet Time™ onslaughts from deanmendez4, Jabeel786, Gothic_Penguin and others, only to be picked off by Zamale38.

On Saturday, May 19th, MaxPayneDev1 was getting up close and dirty in the favelas, using Sneaky burst and a shotgun to hunt and silence the other team, one by one. We particularly enjoyed this surprise double kill early on:

The 911 NYC Crew were out in force for our inaugural PSN event and joined MaxPayneDev1 for a round of Gang Wars, in which we were once again targeted for assassination. Going in to the final round with the scores level and the balance of power delicately poised, MaxPayneDev1 finished on the losing side, with ChEzZa x x and snipe o rama on the opposing team chalking up an impressive 49 and 46 kills respectively.

Vendettas Get Personal

As we moved into the second week of events, the heat on our dev players twisted up a notch, and the community - now with a full week of practice under their belts - showed up with lethal skills. During Friday, May 25th's Xbox LIVE event a particularly tasty round of Team Deathmatch transpired in the favelas, during which TF NakKha managed to finish 6 to 0 in a personal war against MaxPayneDev1. Although first blood had gone to our Comando Sombra teammate boomerlouie, the game finished 89 - 129 for the UFE. This was followed by a tense Gang Wars encounter in the bus depot. Props to Alpha Titan SHM, Aesth3tic Karma, TequilaSandy for impressing throughout.

On Saturday, May 26th our dev players jumped on to PS3 with some scores to settle. Back in the favelas, MaxPayneDev1 retreated to a highpoint alongside I-C-U-FOO3 to pick off the enemy with deadly accuracy. The strategy paid off as the UFE turned a 3-12 deficit into a 15-14 lead. Ultimately, Da_number_1_tito and Cyborg 112 led the opposition to a hard fought victory, edging out 110 to 100 in the closing encounters.

We then took on all comers in a Large Deathmatch in the abandoned Docks. Vendettas were raised throughout as Snaly_Frog and SlowpokRodriguez sought the glory of taking us out. However, evilmonkey-96 kept their eyes on the prize and ultimately finished victorious. We were joined in the latter stages of our event by four members of the supertight Royal Legends Crew. Serious kudos goes out to RoyaL_Sublime from that Crew, who picked up accolades for best Killstreak, Most Kills and Most Lethal after a Gang Wars session in the docks.

And we'd be remiss if we didn't offer a hearty congrats to our quartet of grand prize winners from these events, Social Clubbers therealmanic, glockracer, giggity62 and theSG-17 who will each receive a pair of exclusive custom-controllers branded with their online ID and Crew Emblem.

Keep an eye out on the Newswire for part two of our recap - featuring a rundown of this past weekend's triple-header of Max Payne 3 Multiplayer Events, and of course stay tuned to our Social Club Multiplayer Events series all summer long, as we continue to bring you a full slate of Max Payne 3 Multiplayer Events (along with some Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto IV thrown in for good measure).

Hit the jump below for a roll call of all attendees...

Since the arrival of Max Payne 3 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and now for PC - and throughout our daily online Multiplayer sessions where our devs from across Rockstar Studios have been facing off and teaming up with many of you worldwide - we've been asked for pro tip advice on what may be the best and most strategic Loadout combinations. The truth of the matter is that there is no one perfect Loadout as it really depends on your personal playing style to tailor which special ability Bursts, which additional strategic Items and which guns work best for you - and depending on the Loadouts chosen by your adversaries that you're about to face. That said, we're happy to share a couple of the personal Loadout combos favored by some of the members of the Max Payne 3 Multiplayer development team when they play.

Today's Part One in this Game Tips series highlights a pair of situation-specific Loadout options culled from the deep library of Weapons, Bursts and Items found in Max Payne 3 Multiplayer that are particularly well suited for use in Gang Wars mode (look for some more dev-favorite Loadouts for Deathmatch variants later this week).

GANG WARS (HEAVY)
Gang Wars dynamically generates objectives to provide a varied, narrative driven multiplayer experience. Due to the unpredictable nature of the gameplay, we've prepared two Loadout options – classified here as ‘Heavy’ and ‘Light’ – that you can easily switch between depending on what the situation calls for. The ‘Heavy’ variant, featured in the screen above, is especially effective when trying to defend a patch of turf or territory against aggressive opposition.

Single Handed Weapon Slot: The DE. 50 (with Mag guide/Gas systems kit) – strikes a good balance between long and short range stopping power
Two Handed Weapon Slot: LMG. 30 (with Barrel upgrade/Mag guide/gas systems kit)
Projectile Slot: Tear Gas is effective for turf and territory based rounds
Burst Slot: Bullet Time® is excellent for taking multiple enemies down when they attempt to capture your turf
Item Head slot: Helmet
Item Chest Slot: Heavy Body Armor
Item Gear Slot: Spray Can is helpful for taking turf more quickly
Item Gear Slot: Ammo Pouch is an effective companion to the LMG
Item Gear Slot: Vampire Fangs will recover your health (providing you keep killing enemies) despite the very heavy Loadout

Gang Wars (Light)
The Light variant of our preferred Gang Wars Loadouts is all about keeping weight down and using a combination of handguns and deception to ensure your enemies’ last moments are lost in a haze of confusion. This Loadout is particularly effective when attacking turf or territory, as well and planting or defusing bombs.

Single Handed Weapon Slot: The M10 is powerful up close when running into opponent territories
Single Handed Weapon Slot:The M972 works well in dual-wield with the M10 and provides some range
Projectile Slot: The Tin Can can confuse enemies when you’re running into territories or turf, and when attempting to plant or diffuse bombs
Burst Slot: Paranoia is useful alongside the Tin Can in confusing enemies
Item Gear Slot: Hollowpoint Rounds keep enemies away for longer
Item Gear Slot: Multitool will help you plant and diffuse bombs quickly

Please note that some Weapons, Bursts and Items do require you to reach a certain multiplayer level before they're unlocked. Check out the in-game Loadouts menu for further details.

Give them a go and let us know if these set-ups work for you, or if you've got other sureshot Loadout combos you don't mind referring to other players. Are there any set-ups that you save for specific situations, or perhaps you have a more versatile go-to setup? Share 'em in the comments below...

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone that took part in our triple-header weekend of Max Payne 3 Multiplayer action! Keep an eye out for us online all summer long and be sure to join us for the full slate of live-streamed multiplayer events. 

Presenting dates for our official summer Social Club Multiplayer Events calendar - three torrid months of intense Crew Feuds, raging Gang Wars and burning up of the Social Club leaderboards in Max Payne 3 Multiplayer - starting this very weekend with a triple-header that includes our first PC event on Sunday. And while we’ll be heavy Shootdodging™ and Bullet Timing® throughout the online killing fields of São Paulo and New Jersey in Max Payne 3, we’ve also got dates reserved this summer for a couple blood-soaked day trips to Chuparosa and Liberty City respectively as well.

We’ve hand-picked a selection of some of our fiercest players from across all the Rockstar Studios around the globe to play as members of the Rockstar Crew in Max Payne 3 and will be painting bullseyes on their chests in the form of Gamertags and PSN IDs to be announced shortly before each event here at the newswire. All you need to do is meet us online via Max's in-game Social Club playlist during the scheduled times and make sure your Load Out is professional grade for action.

And as debuted in our recent inaugural Max Payne 3 Multiplayer Events - we will have Live Double-Stream Broadcasting, special prize giveaways to get your CREW emblem on custom gear and more, live Rockstar-hosted chat, Event-specific Leaderboards to see who the stars of the day were and other surprises to be announced all over at the Social Club Multiplayer Events page. Incidentally, congratulations are in order for last weekend's controllers winners, Social Club members Giggity62 of the Payne Killers Crew and theSG-17 of the RedDeadNet Crew. In this weekend's June 1-3 events, we'll be giving away another pair of Crew controllers at Friday's Xbox LIVE event and at Saturday's PSN event - and Sunday's PC event, Social Club members can score a grand prize GeForce® GTX 670 AMP! Edition by Zotac graphics card courtesy of NVIDIA. We're also working on some custom Crew mouse designs and Rockstar mousepads for future PC events this summer so stay tuned for that.

And in addition to the live streaming dates listed in the calendar, you can also expect to see us online for impromptu sessions including daily bouts of Max Payne 3 every single day through June 15th. As always, we'll be giving a shout exclusively via Twitter and Facebook to let you know when we're powering on our consoles and booting up our PCs to throw down.

CALENDAR OF MULTIPLAYER EVENTS

• Friday, June 1 (4-7PM EST / 9pm-midnight BST)
  Max Payne 3
  For Xbox 360 on XBL

• Saturday, June 2 (1-4PM EST / 6-9pm BST)
  Max Payne 3
  For PlayStation 3 on PSN

• Sunday, June 3 (1-4PM EST / 6-9pm BST)
  Max Payne 3
  For PC

• Thursday, June 14 (12-3PM EST / 5-8pm BST)
  Max Payne 3
  For Xbox 360 on XBL

• Friday, June 22 (5-8PM EST / 10pm-1am BST)
  Max Payne 3
  For PlayStation 3 on PSN

• Friday, July 6 (4-7PM EST / 9pm-midnight BST)
  Max Payne 3
  For PC

• Thursday, July 12 (12-3PM EST / 5-8pm BST)
  Max Payne 3
  For Xbox 360 on XBL

• Friday, July 27 (4-7PM EST / 9pm-midnight BST)
  Red Dead Redemption
  For PlayStation 3 on PSN

• Wednesday, August 1 (12-3PM EST / 5-8pm BST)
  Max Payne 3
  For PlayStation 3 on PSN

• Friday, August 17 (4-7PM EST / 9pm-midnight BST)
  Max Payne 3
  For PC

• Thursday, August 30 (12-3PM EST / 5-8pm BST)
  Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition
  For Xbox 360 on XBL

• Thursday, August 30 (4-7PM EST / 9pm-midnight BST)
  Max Payne 3
  For PC

GAMERTAGS AND PSN IDs
Official Rockstar players are marked with a special visible in-game dog tag logo:

•MaxPayneDev1
•MaxPayneDev2
•MaxPayneDev3
•MaxPayneDev4
•MaxPayneDev5
•MaxPayneDev6
•MaxPayneDev7
•MaxPayneDev08
•MaxPayneDev9
•MaxPayneDev10
•MaxPayneDev11
•MaxPayneDev12
•MaxPayneDev13
•MaxPayneDev14
•MaxPayneDev15
•MaxPayneDev16
 

Max Payne 3 Multiplayer offers a deep and varied arsenal of guns with which to dispatch your opponents, but for those special occasions where you can’t see the whites of their eyes, there is a deadly range of projectile grenade options with which to flush them out or take them down. Our latest entry in the Max Payne 3 Tips Series highlights what they are and how to use them effectively.

• Quick Throwing - Simply tap LB/L1 once to pull the pin and release a grenade in one smooth motion – perfect for when you’re in a hurry.
• Weapon Wheel Grenade Selection - While holding down LB/L1, press RB/R1 to equip the grenade of your choice, ready for you to throw using RT/R2.
• 'Cooking' Grenades - After equipping a grenade using the Weapon Wheel, it is also possible to hold the RT/R2 button and ‘cook’ the grenade. Cooking grenades can reduce the time your enemy has to escape before getting caught in the explosion. Be careful though - if you cook a grenade for too long of course, it will explode in your hand.
• Sticky Grenades - In multiplayer, if you equip the Sticky Tape Loadout item then you will be able to attach grenades to the environment, making it even more difficult to escape.

While standard-issue explosive Grenades are great for flushing enemies out from behind cover or taking care of larger groups, you also have access to other grenade types - each with their own unique tactical benefits.

• Flash Grenades are useful for temporarily blinding your opponents and blocking their ability to use lock-on. This effect can be counteracted by equipping the Military Goggles Loadout item.
• Gas Grenades create a cloud of noxious gas that can cause death to anyone exposed to it for long enough. Using these grenades against enemies that are defending an area is a very effective strategy. The effect of these grenades can be counteracted by equipping yourself with the Gas Mask item.
• Smoke Grenades create a thick cloud of smoke that cannot be seen through by friend or foe alike. They are useful for obscuring your movement from the view of nearby enemies. Enemy players will also not be able to use Lock-On targeting to aim at players through the smoke.

There's also an additional pair of projectiles at your disposal that are useful in certain situations. A crude but effective incendiary projectile, the Molotov (part of the Disorderly Conduct Multiplayer Weapons Pack include with the Max Payne 3 Special Edition) creates a large patch of fire on the ground where it lands and any enemies exposed will take continuous damage for a few seconds. And while the Tin Can might not sound lethal, it creates a very handy strategic diversion on a nearby enemy’s mini-map, giving you an opportunity to get the drop on them.
 

UPDATE: Today’s Multiplayer Events have concluded. Thanks to everyone for taking part and we'll see you again for a full quota of Max Payne 3 Social Club Multiplayer events on PSN, Xbox Live and - for the first time - PC on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of June.

Last weekend, we celebrated the launch of Max Payne 3 with the very first Social Club Multiplayer Events where players and CREWS from around the world joined our own Rockstar Studios devs for some fierce Gang Wars and Team Deathmatch competition.

We also introduced our first Grand Prize giveaways of exclusive custom controllers, sleekly black-on-black matte'd out, branded with your ID and with your Crew's emblem hand-painted on top.

We're pleased to announce the winners of last week's set: therealmanic (aka ROCKSTAR Manic on Xbox LIVE) representing his own lone wolf Crew, the São Paulo Cartel ("São Paulo's Finest") and glockracer (aka GlocKRaceR on PSN) representing the massive public Rockstar Crew of Max Payne fans, Payne Killers. Production is now underway on their custom controllers as seen in the artist rendition above (runners-up for the 10 Max Payne 3 Prize Packs are still being confirmed).

Envious? Not to worry - your next chance to score a pair of these truly unique controllers is imminent.

Join us on Xbox LIVE tomorrow, Friday May 25th from 11am-2pm EST / 4pm-7pm BST and then on PSN this Saturday May 26th from 12-3pm EST / 5-8pm BST for another pair of Max Payne 3 Social Club Multiplayer Events throwing down in modes from Gang Wars to Team Deathmatch across two live streams, with the newly enhanced Rockstar-hosted chat, Social Club Playlist Leaderboards and more all at http://socialclub.rockstargames.com/multiplayer.

Remember you can now join the event straight from the Max Payne 3 in-game menus by jumping into the Social Club Playlist activated during the scheduled event times.

GAMERTAGS AND PSN IDs
Official Rockstar players are marked with a special visible in-game dog tag logo:
•    MaxPayneDev1
•    MaxPayneDev2
•    MaxPayneDev3
•    MaxPayneDev4
•    MaxPayneDev5
•    MaxPayneDev6
•    MaxPayneDev7
•    MaxPayneDev08
•    MaxPayneDev9
•    MaxPayneDev10
•    MaxPayneDev11
•    MaxPayneDev12
•    MaxPayneDev13
•    MaxPayneDev14
•    MaxPayneDev15
•    MaxPayneDev16

Don't forget that in addition to our live streaming scheduled Social Club events, members of Rockstar Studios worldwide will also be online playing Max Payne 3 Multiplayer every single day through June 15th - a non-stop month with the folks who all helped create the game itself. We'll be playing about 2-3 hours each day with devs from Leeds, Lincoln, London, New England, New York, North, San Diego, Toronto and Vancouver taking turns to show you how it's done on both consoles seven days a week (and on the PC version beginning June 1st).

Make sure you're following us on our Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Steam (for PC) pages to get the word each day of exactly when we're loading up, loading out and heading into Gang Wars, Payne Killer, Team Deathmatch and FFA Deathmatch along with info of which Gamertags/IDs we're using that day.
 

On the heels of the game’s release in North America just a few days ago, European and Australian players can now experience the balletic gunplay, twisted noir-style narrative and Max Payne’s iconic Bullet Time® and Shootdodge™ moves, as Max Payne 3 is now available throughout Europe and Australia.

That means it's time for our European and Australian fans to start feuds with rival Crews at the Social Club and join players from across the gamut of Rockstar Studios worldwide for this weekend's slate of Max Payne 3 Multiplayer Events.

For more on Max Payne 3, including official trailers and other features, visit the official site at www.rockstargames.com/maxpayne3.