Rockstar says GTA VI technology could shorten waits for future games
Rockstar says the tools, technology and team developed for Grand Theft Auto VI could help it make future games more quickly, raising the possibility of a shorter wait for the next instalment. The statement comes after an eight-year development period for GTA VI and a 13-year gap since GTA V, highlighting how much the company’s production approach may matter to future releases.
Technical lead Phil Hooker said Rockstar could build on GTA VI’s foundations and develop content in new directions. The report says the studio created a team dedicated to non-playable characters after finding it lacked the capacity to write and animate them, contributing to a delay. Rockstar’s publishing head rejected a claim that GTA VI cost more than $1.5 billion; staff numbers grew from 2,441 in 2018 to 4,711 across 12 offices. The game is due on 19 November for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
- Rockstar says GTA VI’s tools could speed up future development.
- GTA VI took eight years to make.
- The game is due on 19 November for current consoles.
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Grand Theft Auto is a series of open-world action games made by Rockstar Games. Players explore large fictional cities and follow stories involving crime, while the games’ detailed worlds and characters require substantial work from developers.
The previous main game, GTA V, came out 13 years before GTA VI is due, and the new game has been in development for eight years. Rockstar is the company behind the series, with technical lead Phil Hooker and its publishing team among the people discussing how the studio’s production methods might be used again.
Long waits between major games matter to players and to Rockstar’s plans for future releases. The scale of GTA VI’s development, including the growth of its workforce and teams making characters, helps explain why the company’s tools and organisation could shape how quickly later games are made.
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The case for
Building reusable tools, technology and a larger team could let Rockstar create later games more efficiently, reducing long waits while giving developers room to explore new ideas. The substantial investment in GTA VI may therefore benefit players beyond this release if its production foundations can be carried forward.
The case against
The prospect of shorter waits remains uncertain: GTA VI itself took eight years to develop, and the report describes capacity problems with writing and animating non-playable characters that contributed to delays. Reusing tools may help, but future games could bring new technical and creative demands, so the scale of the team and investment does not guarantee faster releases.
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Originally published by The Verge as “We might not have to wait 13 years for the next GTA”.