Rockstar Newswire

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

• PlayRockstar11 (PSN)
• GwRockstar3 (Xbox LIVE)
• GwRockstar1 (PC & streamed on our Twitch TV channel)
• PlayRockstar12 (PSN)

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:

1. In single player, open the in-game mobile phone by pressing "Up" on the d-pad. Select Multiplayer > Party Mode > Yes.
2. Next, open up your phone again and select the Friends option to invite at least one person into your Party Mode game.
3. Once your team is ready to roll, open up the in-game phone again and select Games > GTA Race.

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)

Thanks to GM-Shenmue for this capture of the December 15th Max Payne 3 Social Club Multiplayer event.

December brought us the final Social Club Multiplayer Events of 2012, capping off an explosive year of Bullet Time laden Gang Wars in São Paulo, free-for-all wild western Shootouts, and of course Free Roaming mayhem across Liberty City and the American frontier. Here’s to our dedicated and awesome Social Club community for all the great times – and to an exciting 2013 as we continue the Winter calendar and gear up for what’s in store this spring…

Here’s a recap of action along with some highlight-reel screens and fan-captured video from the December sessions.

Over in Coot’s Chapel, Undead Nightmare's High Brains Drifter map was jumping with our monster mash out posse. Dev4 fought the good fight with fellow Social Club zombie hunters, but in the end was killed by the undead and, in a classic case of "I don't know which species is worse", by his own teammate, Rafioso. Et tu, Rafi?

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:

• MaxPayneDev1 (Xbox 360)
• MaxPayneDev2 (PS3)
• MaxPayneDev1 (Streaming PC Live on Twitch)
• MaxPayneDev3 (PS3)

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.
 

As Old Man Winter tightens his icy grip outside, Social Club Crews have continued to keep warm with regular southbound trips to the hot and hazy multiplayer grottos of São Paulo in Max Multiplayer. To celebrate the season and in the spirit of giving, we've hooked up all members of Social Club with a little stocking stuffer in the form of the awesome new Human Skull, accessible via the Head Items section of your Loadouts. After this past Saturday's Max Payne 3 Social Club Multiplayer Event, we also introduced Event-specific Crew leaderboards for the very first time on the Social Club Multiplayer Events page, alongside our usual individual Player leaderboards. The chance to unlock another skull, the fearsome Wedding Skull, by placing in the top 10 private Crews brought the best of Social Club Crews out in force, with everyone allowed to join in all the games. We'll have more chances to unlock these skulls coming in January. This week on the Crew Cut we take a look at who the winning Crews were in our second Social Club Winter Calendar Event, and which squads are catching our eye for the very first time with performances that left their opponents strung up like fairy lights. We've also rounded up some fine and festive seasonal Crew Emblems we found further below.

Makavell from Slaughterhouse sent in this pic of him preparing for his nuptials. Ah, romance.

DEATH AND MARRIAGE

With the awesome Wedding Skull to fight for, Crews were repping hard to cement their place at the top of the leaderboards. The Ice Cold Assassins Crew impressively snuck into the top 10 private PS3 Crews with just five members. This came as no surprise after the plucky Free Aimers proved themselves admirably in a recent bout against the Rockstar Dev Crew, showing us the speed and accuracy with which they maintain their 90% Feud win percentage. However the most astonishing performance in the entire event was by two-man Crew Black Shadow. This deadly duo worked harder than Saint Nick on Christmas Eve to finish 10th overall on the PC Crew Event leaderboards; respect to leader BermsBertDualShk for also finishing eighth on the PC Player leaderboards.

Black Shadow are just one of a host of Crews who have not yet received the recognition that they clearly deserve here in the Crew Cut report. Two more Crews that have never been featured are Kung Foo Fighters and Dixie Gaming League, coming in 8th and 9th respectively on the Xbox leaderboards during the event. Kung Foo Fighters Crew recently snuck into the top 20 of all Xbox Crews worldwide, and are making a play for the big dogs. Meanwhile the Dixie Gaming League's vocal leader, MONSTRO1988, shouts out his "heritage, not hatred" Crew faithfully here in comments on the Newswire. Monstro is a professed Loadout connoisseur and strong opponent to the current trend towards dual-wielding amongst Max Payne 3 players. The tactic seems to be effective as Monstro himself placed 9th on the individual leaderboards. Solid work, there.

TIS THE SEASON

With Christmas just around the corner, we're pleased to see a few Crews getting in the spirit already with well-placed Santa hats giving a festive feel to some classic Social Club emblems. The YRA and S-13 Brasil are committed not only in their Emblem Editor practice but in their Social Club Events performances as well, with both of them earning their right to sport the Wedding Skulls over the Holiday Season. The YRA Crew's British Bulldog can show off his new mustache proudly after they finished top of the PS3 private Crews during the Event. Meanwhile, the S-13Brasil Crew's emblem cries reddened tears for the fallen, but the 2,465 Kills they racked up during the event proves every word of their cerebral motto: "Nenhum obstaculo e tao grande se sua vontade de vencer for maior" ("No obstacle is too great, if the desire to win is greater"). 

We leave you this week with an awesome rendition of the GTAV "Beach Weather" girl by ErnestoRock2 given a suitable Christmas twist by Sweeeet55 for Consumer Products Crew. Not only do they have a sweet emblem, but as the only Crew on Xbox to beat the 121,000 strong hordes of the Payne Killers Crew members, Consumer Products were top of the tree on the Xbox Event leaderboards. With well over 4,100 Feuds won, it should come as no surprise. Sons of GTA didn't make it onto any of the Event leaderboards, but we must give respect for the holiday-themed version of their emblem featuring the men of GTAs past. You'll have to make room for three more in there next year, lads!

.               

Social Club stalwart and Video Editor all-star FugetSudo created this pretty awesome video of Niko Bellic himself getting in on the November 29th GTAIV PC event fun live from Tw@ cafe.

Thanks to Social Club members worldwide for joining us last month for a stacked set of Multiplayer Events battles across Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption and GTAIV - and those we've seen continuing to fight the fight in the current Winter events calendar with action unfolding well into the New Year. We'll have a December recap soon looking at all of the most recent action including the skulls holiday unlock Max Payne 3 extravaganza that happened this past weekend.

The final month of the Fall Calendar kicked off with November 16th’s intense 6-hour doubleheader of Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3. Our two live-streaming players, RedDeadDev3 and RedDeadDev4, started with a Gang Shootout in which Dev4 took out 3 opponents in the opening duel and then raced to 13 kills for only 6 deaths. However, the opposition clung on thanks to solid work from KALD_KSA_F-15 (PSN ID) and mad2oo8m (PSN ID), leaving only $50 in it with three minutes to go. Dev4's teammate justaway56 (PSN ID) came to life here with a series of quick fire kills to claim the win for Dutch's Gang and come away as top player with 19 kills notched.

RedDeadDev4 waits for the perfect moment to take out Chief_RoYAL_KuSh

Following a spontaneous mass brawl in Free Roam, Dev3 entered a Grand Prix in Carrera Del Diablo with DemonLord B7R, Mazzkulin, AkA x MaFiAzZ, ClaudeSpd, ListeKing, StrappedRuby303 and Samuel4000. Dev3 saw an early lead diminish as weapons went live and DemonLord BR7 immediately put his horse down. It was an uphill struggle from there but our dev almost pulled it back, clinching second going into Chuparosa but ultimately falling just behind the race winner, Mazzkulin. Dev3 fought valiantly in the next two races and was in prime position going into the final race, but wound up falling to a 5th place finish - credit to Mazzkulin. for the overall win.

Our Dev player rides into the sunset during a race around Chuparosa

Hit the jump for much more including videos, screens and a list of participants from our November multiplayer events...

New Crew outfits rock your squad's emblem boldly and proudly - here as modeled by our own Rockstar Dev Crew. Click click.

NEW SOCIAL CLUB CREW OUTFITS UNLOCKED

Any ragtag group of mercenaries can take up arms and face a common enemy, but no truly great army is complete without a uniform that binds them together. The fiercest street gangs and warriors of the world have always been careful to unite under a visual identity, both for practical purposes of avoiding friendly fire and for the pride of knowing that you fight for a cause.

Now, you and your Crewmates can look united on the battlefield - and strike fear in your opponents when they see you coming ("Oh no, not THEM!") - with these new Crew outfits for members of Social Club that will display your Crew's emblem loud and proud right on your chestpiece. You may have already noticed the Crew Jacket available to male avatars in the De Marcos faction; now we are releasing an outfit for every faction, including all the DLC groups and two unique Crew outfits for the UFE.

In the picture above, members of our own Rockstar Games Dev Crew stalk through the favelas rocking the Rockstar Emblem with pride. To access your new Crew gear, head into the Avatars section of the in-game Multiplayer Arsenal menus and explore the Torso options for your avatars, both male and female.

This past Saturday's Max Payne 3 Social Club Multiplayer Crew Event was a virtual - and bloody - fashion show of Emblem gear on parade, featuring 3XP as well as the skull mask unlocks. Good to see everyone in the matches and in the chatroom.

SAY HELLO TO OUR LITTLE FRIENDS

In honor of the launch of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for iOs and Android devices, this week on the Crew Cut we take a look at the Crews who themselves pay thematic homage to the glitz, glamor, gangsters and guns of eighties Vice City - disciples of Tommy Vercetti, Love Fist groupies and more.

The Vercettis Crew's ("Remember the name") awesome portrait of Tommy and his signature tropical shirt was originally featured in one of the very first Crew Cuts, but below left is a pretty sweet pattern version that seems apt for Crew Emblem use and should look particularly stylish on the new Crew outfits unlocked. A very nice abstraction with some of Vercetti's favorite tools of the trade mixed in with the flora and fauna. The best Rockstar character resort wear piece we've seen since this Max Payne emblem back in the second ever edition of the Crew Cut. Another Crew returning to the Cut this week, Sons Of GTA, have a plethora of impressive emblems dedicated to Vice City among other games in the GTA series. We particularly like the attention to detail in their recreation of the Vice City logo, which is nigh-on perfect - no easy feat. This esteemed 231-member Crew have Accomplishments including Membership IV, Feuds I (73 feud wins) Solidarity III (over 1,000 Crew assists), and more - so we can only imagine how hard they're going to go once it comes time for the first Grand Theft Auto title supporting Crews. One to watch - or align yourself with if you're a currently Crew-unaffiliated GTA fan.  

Rewind Crew certainly get in the spirit with their claim to be “droppin’ bodies like an 80's drug addiction" and they seem to be able to back up that braggadocio. With 674 wins, the Crew sports a 65% Feud win percentage and are ranked no.1 on the Xbox LIVE leaderboards for Crews with 6-20 members. This Crew have had this awesome rendition of the Vice City Martini girl seen below left as their emblem ever since their foundation in late May of this year - it ain't broke, why fix it? The Vice Crew, in name, emblem and notable member LanceVance225, are clearly devotees of VC. This tight-knit group of four has a 71% win percentage and Accomplishments such as Legend I, having finished as the top Crew 20 times in online multiplayer game modes. We love their emblem, with an economic and powerful use of color depicting some essential elements of Vice City - palm trees, brass knuckles, and a trusty pistol. The Vercetti Estate Crew might need to improve their win percentage (26%) but we like the use of the Vercetti Family insignia in their regal looking emblem, and credit these guys for having a loyal gang of 224 members. Accomplishments include but are not limited to Solidarity IV (over 2500 Crew assists) and XP V (over 25,000,000 accumulated as a Crew). 

There are also a few smaller Crews devoted to Vice City - here's hoping that the mobile launch of their favorite iteration of the GTA series will spur some recruitment. For starters, we have a Crew named after Vice City's beloved hair metal band, Love Fist. It's clear from some of our recent GTAV artwork that the Love Fist fandom still runs strong all over the world to this day. Time to give Dick, Willy, Percy and Jezz the love they deserve and sign up to represent this powerful logo. Vice City Resident's crest is another great example of emblem editors being inspired by the themes of Vice City to create a simple but memorable brand for their Crew. They have fought a meager three Feuds between the 15 of them, but with an emblem like this it's time to get back out on the battlefield and get better known. The Vice Hotline Crew threw everything at their emblem to create a psychedelic splash of color. The Crew's motto claims they represent for "Strength in Numbers", which is only slightly awkward in that that they only have one member - a clear Vice fan who is also a card-carrying member of the aforementioned Vercetti Estate. Hey ZCRAZE, we hope this helps get some new recruits on the roster!

We'll be back soon with some updated recaps of all our recent Rockstar Crew versus private Crew throwdowns as well as more of the awesome emblems that you guys have been creating and publishing around Social Club. 

Update: The multiplayer event has now concluded but Triple XP will be active all weekend long. Thanks to everyone who joined us.

By popular demand, the first Max Payne 3 Social Club Multiplayer Event of our Winter Calendar is a weekend affair - taking place this Saturday, December 15th from 11am to 2pm EST (4-7pm GMT). So put any holiday shopping plans on hold for a few hours weekend warriors and pick up those dual M10s to battle it out in our live-streamed event along with other members of the Rockstar Games community.

OFFICIAL ROCKSTAR IDs
Participating official in-game Rockstar names will be:

• MaxPayneDev1 (Xbox 360)
• MaxPayneDev2 (PS3)
• MaxPayneDev3 (Xbox 360)
• MaxPayneDev1 (PC)

SWEEPSTAKES
Enter to win a Max Payne 3 prize pack on the events page, including a Max Payne 3 t-shirt, bullet keychain and stickers. Five winners will be randomly selected. Official rules can be found here.

COUNTDOWN
If you're unsure of when the event will begin in your time zone, have a look at the countdown on the Social Club multiplayer events page.

HOW TO FIND US
When the event starts up on Friday, enter Max Payne 3 multiplayer and select the Social Club Multiplayer Event playlist. We'll play a mix of Soft Lock and Free Aim, so look for the names listed above. We receive many requests from players who wish to play with our Devs, and we do our best to accommodate them all. During the event, our Devs will jump in and out of different lobbies to get a game with as many different fans as we can. If you can't get in a game with our Devs immediately don't forget to remain patient and make sure you get out there and represent for yourself and for your Crew.

FUTURE PLAYSESSIONS
If you want more time to play our games with us, your best bet is to 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.

Update: The event has ended, but Triple XP is on all weekend long. Enjoy!

We're kicking off our winter slate of Social Club Multiplayer Events Friday December 7th with a Red Dead Redemption Triple XP throwdown across both platforms. Join us in Free Roam on the Red Dead multiplayer frontier at 4pm EST / 9pm GMT with your favorite mount as we'll be playing through all of the game's mutliplayer modes including a few rounds of Undead Overrun from the Undead Nightmare expansion. We'll be online until 7pm EST / 12am GMT, but the Triple XP will be live all weekend long, even after the event comes to its conclusion.

OFFICIAL ROCKSTAR IDs

• RedDeadDev3 (Xbox 360)
• RedDeadDev4 (PS3)
• RedDeadDev5 (Xbox 360 on Twitch)
• RedDeadDev6 (PS3)

HOW TO FIND US
We'll invite some players during the event, but please keep in mind that we might not necessarily be able to get you in right at the beginning. Lot of players often attempt to send over friend requests and messages simultaneously, and we try to give priority to those asking in a respectful manner via chat or in comments... please don't spam!

To get started, select Multiplayer from the main menu, and choose Normal from the list of difficulties. We'll hop into some Hardcore matches during the day for sure, but we generally like to get started with Normal difficulty.

ADDITIONAL TIPS

• Want to earn Triple XP, and fast? First lead your posse to Warthington's Ranch, then head to Pike's Basin, a Gang Hideout between Armadillo and MacFarlane's Ranch. Have a look at the in-game map, as both locations are marked in big letters. We recommend doing this with three or more players in a posse. Twin Rocks is another possibility, located northwest of Armadillo, but it doesn't reward as much XP as Pike's Basin does.
• If you're having issues finding us or getting an invite, watch one of the video streams. Take note of the mode we're playing, and you might be able to join us by selecting that same mode in your game.
• Submit your Gamertag or ID once in the comments section for this article about an hour before the multiplayer event begins. Let us know whether you're on PS3 or Xbox 360, and we'll be able to get you on our list and invited to the next available game.

Feel free to drop your own tips in the comments below in advance of Friday's festivities...

Previously:
Recap, Video & Screens from the Red Dead Redemption Social Club Multiplayer Event on September 13
Recapping the July 27th Red Dead Redemption PSN Social Club Multiplayer Event
Red Dead Redemption PSN Social Club Multiplayer Event Recap Featuring Contest Winners and Fan Videos