If you were hoping to download GTA V on PSN today ahead of Tuesday’s release so that you could play the game as the clock strikes midnight on release day, as Sony had previously confirmed, then you might be a bit disappointed by this news.
Following various leaks after the game was mistakenly available to pre-load last month, Sony have delayed the ability to download your copy of the game until Monday – just a day before the official release.
Considering that the download is 18GB, that may limit a lot of gamers. Although speedy fibre optic broadband has become more commonplace, a lot of the UK is still plagued with poor speeds. At home, I’d need a good day or two to download a file that big.
The customers aren’t happy, either, unleashing their rage through the EU PlayStation forums, who aren’t happy at paying £50 and now perhaps missing out on launch day GTA V if their speeds aren’t fast enough – one is even threatening to take legal proceedings against them, while others are throwing expletives around manically.
It does seem as though Sony led people to believe they’d have plenty of time to download before release, when in reality some wouldn’t. I’m not sure the rage is justified but it’s certainly a poor situation, which highlights just why we aren’t ready to move on to an all-digital generation just yet.
Source: Eurogamer
UPDATE: Sony have tweeted saying that the download will be available at 3pm GMT on Sunday – tomorrow, though obviously the game won’t be playable until Tuesday. While that’s still not suitable for everyone, it is better than mere hours before release.
For those people who have pre-ordered GTAV on European PS Store, you will be able to download the game from 3pm (GMT) on Sunday 15th Sept.
— PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) September 13, 2013
Dazbobaby
I can download at 2+megabytes per second, but I usually get less than halft that from PSN, so a speedy fibre line is pointless on PSN.
OneShotWook
No disrespect but this is incorrect Dazobaby.18gb takes 3-5 hours for me on my fibre line from psn whereas on my old dsl line i would see around the 2mbs speed you mention and just wouldn’t consider a digital purchase this size.
Erroneus
It’s all about the routing. I’m on a 130/25mbit DOCSIS line, which is able to download at those speeds, eg. from Steam I’m getting around 16 MB/s but from PSN I’m getting around 2 MB/s.
I’m hoping Sony gets better routing or more local cache servers, when they upgrade PSN for PS4.
psychobudgie
Same here on my Virgin Media 100mb fibre it took me around 1 and a half hours to download Ni No Kuni which was 16gb. Actually took longer to install it than it did to download it.
Kivi95
Wow is it still THAT slow in UK D:. I would guess 18GB for me would take no more then 6hours.
bunimomike
The PSN (for me in the UK) is hilariously slow compared to the download speeds I get on the likes of Steam. I’d be more worried about that. :-\
Usually 1 to 2 MB a second on PSN whereas I usually get 8 or so MB/sec on Steam. Thankfully, Sony are looking to make the network better with the PS4 so I’m looking forward to decent download speeds with a PlayStation (for the first time). :-)
kivi77
Well Dazobaby’s connection is quicker than yours!:
Maybe you confused your MB with Mb?
Dazobaby speed of 2MBps = 16Mbps (yes it’s slow, probably a rural area)
But, Kivi95 will take 6 hours for 18GB to dl:
18GB x 1024 = 18432MB
18432 x 8 (bits in a byte)= 147456Mb
147456/6 (hours) = 24576 (Mb per hour)
24576/60 (minutes) = 409.6 (Mb per minute)
409.6/60 (seconds) = 6.8266666Mbps
So…..this is awkward……but I’m pretty sure 16>6.83!
Even if PSN only dl’s at half her capable speed (8Mbps) she will dl in just over 5 hours as opposed to your 6.
No hate here, just sharing technology knowledge.
matthangzhou
Welcome to Kivi’s younger brother!
Kivi95
Well I just said no more then 6 hours :)… It could be a shorter time. Nice imagination with you nickname by the way :P
Kivi95
No idea who it is D:
yiddo
Kivi’s older brother surely if we can assume that the 77 is birth year ;)
kivi77
;-) lol, it’s not my usual online nickname, but it is part of my 1st and last name, I thought it a big coincidence so went with it!
I didn’t mean any offence, so I hope none was taken, I’m just a bit of a math/technology geek is all!
bigchrissyc
Can you not set automatic downloads with ps+ at least. So you could set it to download midnight Sunday. Easily downloaded for Monday midnight.
Dazbobaby
I can and I will, but I also have to check it periodically in case it “stalls” which it often does.
quinkill
That size would take me about 4-5 hours but i’m getting physical copy at a midnight launch.
theturtleking
I could download that in under two hours but it would probably take another 5 hours to install. Digital game install times are shocking.
hazelam
i don’t think people’s ISPs speed is going to be the biggest problem here.
almost every wednesday, downloads from the store slow down to a crawl.
so when all those people are trying to download GTA at the same time, well, it’s gonna be slooooooooooooooooooooooooow.
ron_mcphatty
Hmm, this is a shame, an unfortunate bit of bad PR amongst an otherwise excellent few months of excitement.
Starman
I get about 500mb an hour off psn, and twice that from xb live.
Dan Jones
That would take me a good week to download, so thank god I’ve ordered the physical copy. My internet speed is horrific for most of the day. I think the last time I tried to download a patch on PSN it wanted to take 2 hours+ to download 15MB. Yes I did mean MB!
Wardy-77-
When i read the headline i thought o oh it’s going to be delayed by days lol,oh well surely they could have made like every other pre-order download,where you can download days earlier but it just doosn’t allow you to play it till they flick the switch or press the button around 12-1am launch day.
E8_BALL_
That does sound like the most logical route.