A former Rockstar Video games developer has confirmed what many players lengthy suspected: That Grand Theft Auto 5, which launched in 2013, did have a narrative enlargement deliberate as premium downloadable content material, however the writer shelved it after Grand Theft Auto On-line’s large success, which pioneered a live-service content material mannequin for console video games, made such issues virtually moot.
The story DLC has been getting chewed over in boards and social media over the previous few months, after reviews and feedback from GTA 5’s unique voice actors mentioned there have been plans to proceed the three characters’ tales with devoted chapters. Steven Ogg, voice actor for whack-job antihero Trevor, mentioned he shot scenes for a narrative enlargement that may have proven him as a very unlikely FBI agent doing jobs for The Man.
Joe Robino, who labored for Rockstar from 2010 to 2016, principally confirmed that in an interview with the podcaster/YouTuber SanInPlay.
“It was actually actually good. However when GTA On-line got here out it was a lot of a money cow and other people had been loving it a lot that it was arduous to make an argument {that a} stand-alone DLC would outcompete that,” Robino mentioned. “I feel wanting again now you can in all probability do each. However that was a enterprise determination they made. I used to be somewhat upset about that.”
Grand Theft Auto On-line adopted Grand Theft Auto 5’s launch by two weeks within the fall of 2013. A yr after launch, mum or dad firm Take-Two Interactive instructed traders that 70 p.c of GTA 5’s set up base had been enjoying the mode, and within the decade because it has not solely delivered tens of millions of {dollars} to Take-Two’s steadiness sheet, it’s served as a mannequin to titles just like the NBA 2K franchise by way of what live-service video games can ship to their publishers.
Earlier than GTA 5, Grand Theft Auto 4 (which launched in 2008) adopted a post-launch content material mannequin that was primarily based on large, premium story expansions as a substitute of seasonal-type content material that comes with microtransacted goodies persons are keen to pay for. GTA 4 was no flop, nor had been its two expansions (The Misplaced and the Damned, and The Ballad of Homosexual Tony) but it surely takes much more time and prices extra money to do these sorts of content material packs.
“Numerous that stuff did find yourself making it, I imagine, into later iterations of GTA On-line,” Rubino mentioned. “It’s not like they wasted it. However when GTA On-line got here out, it was a lot of a money cow, and other people had been loving it a lot, that it was arduous to make an argument {that a} standalone DLC would outcompete that.”
That’s a spot-on level — no writer, nor developer, desires to compete in opposition to itself. However Rubino added that “wanting again now, you can in all probability do each.” That’s a good level, too. Particularly because the dwell service mannequin landed with a thud in 2017’s Red Dead Redemption 2, which might have been higher served by a collection of enlargement packs like its 2010 predecessor noticed.
Grand Theft Auto 6 has been introduced and it’s tabbed for a launch someday in 2025. The collection will return to its fictional South Florida (i.e. Vice Metropolis) setting and little doubt embrace a giant marketing campaign narrative. What comes after that, contemplating the success of GTA On-line but additionally the swing-and-a-miss of Red Dead Online, is up for grabs.