Remember when Meta, formerly known as Facebook, wanted to bring the Internet into three dimensions by and recreate it in virtual reality as a metaverse? Ah, such times. Recently, the social media company has scaled back its VR ambitions, and a VR remake of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which was announced three years ago and then never mentioned again, appears to be the latest victim.
As first reported from IGN, the Oculus 2 port of the fifth game in the hugely popular open-world series has been delayed, possibly forever. Fans have repeatedly asked Meta about the future of the project, including in the YouTube comments on trailers for other Oculus games like colossusa fantasy action adventure about killing giant monsters.
“GTA: San Andreas is on hold indefinitely while we both focus on other projects,” says Meta Quest VR’s YouTube account. wrote in the comments one colossus Pre-order trailer on August 15. “We look forward to working with our friends at Rockstar in the future.” A Meta spokesperson confirmed the change in a statement to IGN.
The VR remake of GTA: San Andreas was originally announced back at Meta’s keynote address at Facebook Connect 2021 during a segment dedicated to Oculus games. “This new version of what I believe is one of the best games ever made will give players an entirely new way to experience this iconic open world in virtual reality,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained at the time.
But neither Meta nor Rockstar Games ever spoke about the ambitious-sounding project again. Future keynotes came and went without mentioning GTA in VR, also as GTA Fans, some of the most obsessed players, continued to demand updates. What else should they do while waiting for new information about Grand Theft Auto 6?
As of 2024, however, Meta has put the brakes on its Metaverse ambitions and withdrawn funding from a VR division that was literally burning billions of dollars a month without any return on its investment other than some new headsets and the occasional remarkable, critically acclaimed gameInstead, Meta, like many other companies, has focused on the race for generative AI where new assets are created and destroyed.
“Get a new perspective on Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas as you experience (again, or for the first time) one of gaming’s most iconic open worlds,” Meta wrote in its original announcement. “This is a project that has been many years in the making, and we can’t wait to show you more of it.”
GTA: San Andreas now sounds like a project that hasn’t been realized for many years. I guess that means there is no VR spin-off of GTA6 either.
