Presenting the official cover art for Grand Theft Auto V featuring Franklin, Michael and Trevor.
You can grab the cover art as a wallpaper or background at www.rockstargames.com/downloads now.
UPDATE: Check out a few pics of the NYC mural painting at the intersection of 7th Avenue and Greenwich Avenue in our gallery below.
During the Winter months of January and February, our Multiplayer Events calendar featured some insane action as we joined the Social Club community to pay a series of bloody trips to the killing fields of Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption multiplayer while also getting down with modes from Max Payne 3's last serving of DLC - the Deathmatch Made in Heaven Pack. Read on below for a full recap of the last four events. For those asking about the next chance to play online with Rockstar, let's just say keep your calendar clear for next Saturday the 13th - we're working on a special weekend event playing ALL our multiplayer games from the past few years (including Midnight Club LA and Table Tennis), plus rare prizing, bonus XP and more - details will be posted on that next week here at the Newswire.
Saturday February 23rd saw over three hours of nonstop action in Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City modes. On Xbox LIVE, our dev GwRockstar3 began the first GTA Race of the day in 8th place and was off to a slow start on the water. While iixxgearsxZz (XBL GT) and Akinks102 (XBL GT) battled it out for first, we were showing some rust on the turns. However, it was our good fortune that the pack had trouble on the rocks, allowing us to move into fifth place. Towards the end of the first lap we were up to second, trailing only CartmanMBK. In the midst of illyaillya shooting down iixxgearsxZz, we took a ramp jump squarely but after running into a buoy, things went south fast. We went from blasting through the open waters to backing up that little boat like we were docking the Staunton Island Ferry. After course-correcting, we were neck and neck, trading fire until iixxgearsxZz went soaring over a seawall whilst we smacked directly into it, Looney Toons style. Our dreams of a comeback dashed, CartmanMBK took first with 3:03:73 while illyaillya came in a close second at 3:08:16 and tehzombiekiller took third with 3:16:50.
Switching over to The Lost and Damned on PS3 with a spirited game of Witness Protection, henriquedematos of NOOSE sent a clear message to The Lost by decimating Kiwi-OGSF. A little later on, AerialRumble (PSN ID) successfully crept up on our own PlayRockstar in a cruiser, but since their roll was a bit tooo slow, we were able to retaliate. After some stunting on our hog, we struggled to locate the mark buckshot_SLMC in our scope, resulting in one of the state's witnesses making it safely to headquarters. As a consolation though, Kiwi-OGSF was able to take 'em out later. A lot of back and forth throughout the entire round, DoE-BLaCK-413 was able to blast bd93hu and Reality_Cheque while Lugnut_SLMC (PSN ID) was on a tear airing out Unam9564, Playrockstar and HoboPiss all in a row. With two state's witnesses already delivered safely for testimony, things weren't looking too hot for The Lost. bd93hu stepped it up to nab buckshot_SLMC and then DoE-BLaCK-413. Down in Chinatown, we thought we had a shot at the third and final witness but DoE-BLaCK-413 was able to interrupt our grand plans. The round ended in a tie with $1500 per team and standout players being DoE-BLaCK-413 (11-2) and Lugnut_SLMC (6-4).
Update: The multiplayer event has ended. Thanks to everyone that joined us. Get ready for our next Social Club multiplayer event happening Thursday Feb 7th. Check the Winter Calendar for info and stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the date.
This Friday January 25th, 11am-2pm EST / 4-7pm GMT, our latest live-streaming Social Club Multiplayer Event invades Liberty City for three hours of melees, mayhem, and mischief in Grand Theft Auto IV. Come look for our dev players in-game on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, or tune in to our double live-stream on the Social Club Multiplayer Events page. There you'll also find our Rockstar-hosted Social Club chat and the chance to win one of ten GTAV prize packs, each including the GTAV Logo Tee, GTAV Tee, and GTAV and Rockstar logo stickers, in our giveaway.
We'll play a mix of original GTAIV modes, as well as The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony multiplayer modes, and you don't need to own the Complete Edition to play in the event - you can join us whenever we're playing a mode that you have. Our devs will clear their friends lists beforehand, and you can enter the giveaway on this page under the Sweepstakes Entry tab.
Two of our devs will be streaming their GTAIV gameplay live on the Social Club Multiplayer Event page with a live chat, and a third video stream will run on our Rockstar Twitch page with a second hosted chatroom.
ROCKSTAR DEV ACCOUNTS
We'll accept as many invites as we can during the event, but we do recommend playing with Social Club members to make sure you get in on the action. Getting in a game with a dev is not a guarantee, but it is something we absolutely attempt to do for as many people as we can when we host a multiplayer event.
FINDING US IN-GAME
Want to know which multiplayer mode our devs are about to play? Pay attention to the live chat on the Social Club Multiplayer Event page. We'll begin in Grand Theft Auto IV in GTA Race, and later progress to The Lost and Damned in the second hour and The Ballad of Gay Tony in the final hour. Use the in-game cellphone to select the mode we're playing during the event.
NEED A PARTNER?
For team-based modes such as Team Deathmatch, gather your friends using Party Mode. You can also hit up the chat during the event or just post your PSN ID/Gamertag in the Comments section below.
ABOUT PARTY MODE
Party Mode is an easy way to get your group together and find matches. Here are the three quick and easy steps to get you up and running:
Previously:
Recapping the November Social Club Multiplayer Events with Fan Videos & More
Recap from our September Max Payne 3 and GTA IV Social Club Events
Recap from the GTAIV & Max Payne 3 Doubleheader Multiplayer Event (August 30)
Click the image above to see prizing in greater detail.
Update: The multiplayer event and Triple XP have ended. Thanks to everyone that participated.
The first Social Club Multiplayer Event of 2013 starts the year off with a literal bang - with three hours of live-streaming Max Payne 3 Multiplayer action and the chance to win two custom controllers or a badass high-performance PC gaming mouse - all emblazoned with the lucky winner's Crew Emblem and Gamertag / PSN ID. We will also be awarding prize packages to five runners-up, each including a Max Payne 3 t-shirt, bullet keychain and stickers.
With Friday's event, we'll also be unlocking the coveted Arcane Skull Mask and Demonic Skull Mask as seen above for all Social Club members. Come n' get 'em. The Arcane and Demonic skull masks are in-game and all you need to do to receive them is make sure you're linked to Social Club. On top of that, after the event finishes we will be awarding the Wedding Skull Mask (debuted at our last Max Payne 3 event) to members of the top 10 user-made Crews on the Event Leaderboards in each platform. Sound the war cry and get your team together to compete for this exclusive head item.
Oh yeah - and Triple XP starting with the event and active all weekend long until early Monday morning the 14th.
It all goes down this Friday January 11th as we jump online to play Max Payne 3 on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Two of our devs will be streaming live at the Social Club Multiplayer Events page, with live Rockstar-hosted chat as well as Crew and Player Leaderboards to see who's showing and proving. You can also kick it with us and watch live video via a 3rd dev stream at our Twitch.tv page.
OFFICIAL MAX PAYNE 3 ROCKSTAR IDs
Participating official in-game Rockstar IDs will be:
COUNTDOWN
Need some help figuring out when the event begins in your time zone? Have a look at the countdown on the Social Club Multiplayer Event page.
HOW TO FIND US IN THE GAME
Enter multiplayer and select the Social Club Multiplayer Event playlist. We'll play a mix of Soft Lock and Free Aim, primarily playing in the latest DLC, Painful Memories and Hostage Negotiation.
FUTURE PLAYSESSIONS
Follow us at our official Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Steam pages so you can get the word when we're going online for some impromptu multiplayer action. We don't schedule this gameplay time or announce it way ahead of time, so the only way you'll be able to find out that we're playing is by following.
Over the years, Vice City's Better Business Bureau has received complaints of a wide range of violations from embezzlement and rioting to bribery and intimidation. Oh, and murder and arson as well. Let's just say that there are quite a few members of the local VC business community with less than stellar reputations for ethical practices.
With Vice City tourism in high season, we need you to be a good whistle blower and file a report to the VCBBB on which of these allegedly crooked operations stands out to you as the worst offender.
InterGlobal Films
While this local movie studio run by director Steve Scott has consistently run afoul of obscenity laws and been a bane of our upstanding family values congressmen, ever since they came under new management, matters may have gotten worse as their business interests have reportedly branched out into blackmail and felony littering...
Shady Acres and Avery Construction
Originally from Texas, Avery Carrington is a successful Vice City based businessman with interests in real estate development and construction. Going big at all costs, word on the street is that his fortune was built less on hard work and elbow grease, and more on juking property values, bribery, intimidation - and perhaps worse...
BJ's Used Autos / BJ's Fit for Football
Heavily in debt to loan sharks, former Vice City Mambas tight end BJ Smith opened BJ's Used Autos with a promise to customers that he would deliver them the car of their dreams - even if it's not on the lot. Following his own inspiring story of weight loss all the way down to 300 pounds, BJ expanded his empire to include the BJ's Fit for Football fitness video series on Beta and VHS.
Pastor Richards Salvation Statue Organization
Pastor Richards is a respected man of the cloth who has led his faithful Vice City congregation for years, uplifting and inspiring them with his fiery sermons whilst shining a light on all degenerates, philanderers, liberals and other evil-doers. Most recently, Pastor Richards has started the Pastor Richards Salvation Statue Organization, a tax-exempt fund to help followers rid themselves of corrupting material wealth and instead invest in building a structure in his likeness to inspire and save generations to come. We've received complaints alleging misappropriation of funds but this one seems on the up and up?
The Cherry Popper Ice Cream Company
There are accusations that Maude Hanson's Cherry Popper Ice Cream Company with its landmark whipped-cream-and-cherry-topped factory in the heart of Little Havana is heavier on the ice than the cream. We have reports of people lining up around the block for a snow cone or some extra sprinkles at Cherry Popper Ice Cream trucks across Vice City...
Print Works
An elder statesman in the Vice City business community with a checkered past, old man Earnest Kelly is said to have the experience, knowledge and printing skills to handle any job large or small at his Print Works shop. Flyers, leaflets, or even novelty play-money replicated to look exactly like the real thing...
K. Rosenberg & Co.
This long-standing law firm founded by attorney Ken Rosenberg is located right on the Washington Beach beachfront strip. With a client list that reads like a who's who of shady characters - from Liberty City's reputed don Sonny Forelli to magnate Avery Carrington and others - we've received tips that he's also been spotted of late in the company of Liberty City transplant and ex-con Tommy Vercetti...
Café Robina
Cuban immigrants Umberto Robina and his father Alberto founded the Café Robina back in the 60s and are known far and wide for their tasty red beans and rice and boisterous hospitality. Recently however their reputation has been pockmarked by a nasty ongoing feud with neighboring Haitian gangs and reports of escalating violence...
