Nestled among a new blog list of details for Grand Theft Auto V's upcoming multiplayer component, Rockstar has confirmed the recent rumours that the service known as GTA Online will indeed include a microtransaction component, allowing players to spend real world dollars to purchase the in-game currency that can be spent on things like weapon and car upgrades.

Reputation is earned from all your online exploits in everything you do in GTA Online – and will help you rank up, providing access to new features, weapons and criminal contacts. Spend cash you’ve gained on cars, clothes, guns, properties and much more. You can either quickly accumulate cash through profitable activities like knocking over armored cars, winning street races, doing stick-ups or a host of other cash-making endeavors – or if you’re the completely instant gratification type, you can choose to buy denominations of GTA$. You will have the option to purchase GTA$ through the in-game Store.

The game and its economy have been designed and balanced for the vast majority of players who will not buy extra cash. There is no in-game paywall and nothing that should disrupt the balance of the game. You don’t have to spend real money to attain the cars, guns, clothes, flash and style of a high-roller in Los Santos, but can if you wish to get them a little quicker. The economy is balanced differently from the single player economy, and cash earned in one cannot be taken over to the other. Most players will earn cash much faster Online than in Story Mode.

Citing "a source with early access" to GTA Online, Eurogamer reports the following UK pricing for in-game currency in Pounds:

• $100,000 Red Shark Cash Card - £1.99
  
• $200,000 Tiger Shark Cash Card - £3.49
  
• $500,000 Bull Shark Cash Card - £6.99
  
• $1,250,000 Great White Shark Cash Card - £13.49

EG goes on to explain that items in the multiplayer mode are typically much cheaper than their equivalents in the single-player game, with the most expensive property you can own costing $400,000.

GTA Online is due to launch on October 1st 2013 for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.