GTA Online cheaters will get in-game bans and punishments

Grand Theft Auto Online players who took advantage of an exploit that flooded "game-breaking amounts" of money into players' wallets will be given in-game penalties at Rockstar's discretion, the developer announced today in a post on Rockstar Newswire.

Over the last few weeks, Rockstar reports that a small number of GTA Online players implemented an exploit to generate and distribute large amounts of in-game cash. Players actively engaged in the cheat could be placed in isolated pools with other cheaters only or banned from GTA Online altogether, according to the post.

Those who "innocently" received in-game cash as a result of the exploit but did not participate in the hack or actively try to acquire the illegal cash will not be punished; however, the funds will be removed from their wallets during today's GTA Online maintenance period.

Rockstar asks that players alert them directly via the in-game reporting feature if they see others take advantage of exploits during their time in GTA Online. The developer will continue to push updates for the game regularly to "counter the negative impact this has had on gameplay."

"We're grateful for the community's continued support in dealing with these issues and once again apologize to anyone that has had their Grand Theft Auto Online experience sullied by these exploits that broke the game's natural flow," reads the post. "Please stay tuned for lots more news about GTA Online in the weeks ahead."