'Grand Theft Auto V' free video game giveaway crashes Epic Games online store
Epic Games had an offer PC gamers couldn't refuse: The video game publisher's online store would give away free copies of "Grand Theft Auto V" beginning Thursday.
But demand proved to be so high that it crashed the game downloading service.
Epic Games, which also makes the hugely popular online game "Fortnite," has been releasing a free game weekly through its online store. It plans to continue giving "GTA V" away until May 21.
But soon after the giveaway began Thursday, Epic Games tweeted "We are currently experiencing high traffic on the Epic Games Store. ... We are aware that users may be encountering slow loading times, 500 errors, or launcher crashing at this time and we are actively working to scale. We'll provide an update as soon as we can."
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We are currently experiencing high traffic on the Epic Games Store.
We are aware that users may be encountering slow loading times, 500 errors, or launcher crashing at this time and we are actively working to scale. We'll provide an update as soon as we can.— Epic Games Store (@EpicGames) May 14, 2020
Two hours later, Epic Games tweeted: "We understand that many users are unable to access the Epic Games Store at this time. We appreciate your patience as we continue to work towards a resolution to mitigate traffic."
As of 3 p.m. ET, the online store was still unreachable. However, by 8:30 p.m. ET, it appeared to be active for some users.
Tweet ad is deleted, so here you go pic.twitter.com/3oja0C3418
— Wario64 (@Wario64) May 14, 2020
Rockstar Games released "GTA V" in 2013 and the game has gone on to make more money than any other single game title, selling nearly 100 million copies and reaping $6 billion in revenue, according to MarketWatch.
"Grand Theft Auto Online," an online multiplayer expansion of "GTA V," remains an immensely popular game and those who download the free "GTA V" could migrate to that, too.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'GTA V' free offer crashes Epic Games online video game store