Rockstar says don’t install the GTA V play disc on Xbox 360

One of the advantages the PS3 has that the Xbox 360 could never match was the storage offered by including a Blu-ray drive. In a number of cases that has meant a game shipping on a single Blu-ray disc for PS3 has required multiple DVDs on Xbox 360. And one of those games is about to be released in the form of GTA V.

Rockstar has already confirmed that the Xbox 360 version of GTA V is shipping on two discs and has a mandatory 8GB install. However, what we didn’t know until today was that you definitely shouldn’t install both discs to your hard drive.

Rockstar has stated via its official Twitter account that the second, so-called “play” disc should not be installed. If it is, then you won’t be playing the game under optimal performance conditions. What they mean by “optical performance” is unclear at this time as you’d always expect hard drive access to be quicker than disc access. But Rockstar has promised to explain more via its support site once the game has launched.

It seems likely that the game is setup to check for the play disk and that by installing its content you will just extend that process further. It may therefore lead to longer load times, perhaps.

So Xbox 360 owners consider yourself warned. When you pick up the game at midnight tonight or it arrives in the post tomorrow, only install the first disc before playing.