Rockstar explains just how easily you can import data

Nov 18, 2014 07:11 GMT  ·  By

A nifty guide to help owners of Grand Theft Auto 5 on PS3 and Xbox 360 transfer their GTA Online characters and progression to the new PS4 or Xbox One version of the game has just appeared, detailing the exact procedure that needs to be followed in order to avoid any problems.

Grand Theft Auto 5 launched last year, in September, for the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms, delivering a great single-player campaign with compelling characters and many activities. In October, it received a free update that introduced the long-awaited GTA Online multiplayer, allowing owners of the game to indulge in all sorts of crazy missions and encounters with other people across the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live online services.

Rockstar Games is preparing to debut the PS4 and Xbox One versions of GTA 5 later today, November 18, and it has quite a few features for fans who already got the game for the PS3 or Xbox 360 last year. Besides getting exclusive content and activities, they can also transfer their online character and progression to the new versions of the game.

A helpful guide shows how the transfer process works

Now, the studio reveals on its Support page a special guide to help owners of the game on last-gen consoles ensure that their data from the online mode gets transferred successfully to the current-gen editions of GTA 5.

The whole transfer is relatively simple, but you first need to make sure that your GTA Online progression is tied to your Rockstar Social Club account on the PS3 or Xbox 360 consoles.

Afterwards, having started the game's online mode on either PS4 or Xbox One, you can select an option that allows you to transfer previous GTA Online character and progression data. When selecting it, you can also change your character's appearance.

"Once you have chosen to transfer your previous character and progression data, the transferrable in-game money, RP and Rank of all previous characters will be displayed. These are the characters that will be transferred to [PS4/Xbox One]," Rockstar explains.

"If you have previous character and progression data on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, you will be prompted to select one set of data. You can only transfer one set of character and progression data for your [PSN account on PS4, Xbox Live account on Xbox One]."

A few things to bear in mind

Rockstar also confirms that existing GTA Online character and progression data will be replaced by the imported one, although your existing in-game money will be combined with the transferred balance.

While you can transfer a PS3 character to the Xbox One or a Xbox 360 character to PS4, bear in mind that purchased in-game money that hasn't been spent will only transfer within a console family.

You can still play with your existing characters on PS3 or Xbox 360 but any progress won't carry over to the new versions of the game.

Grand Theft Auto 5 screenshots (5 Images)

GTA 5 Online is looking good on new consoles
Race against othersCreate your character
+2more