when take two CEO Strauss ZelnickKnown for making brave and often unpopular statements, claiming earlier this month that GTA 6 would set a new “creative benchmark” for all entertainment, many were quick to dismiss claims by companies like Take-Two and Rockstar Games It’s too early to say that the machine is derailed. But what if he was right?
The idea of Rockstar’s new bar for interactive entertainment isn’t an unfamiliar concept. In fact, we’re still trying to figure out how GTA Online continues to print money at such an absurd rate, despite years of complaints about a damaged in-game economy and uneven updates. Perhaps the simple answer is that Rockstar did something in 2013 that other AAA developers are still trying to figure out. It hasn’t been an easy evolution, but the UK-based company has been ahead of the curve.
To this day, we’re still talking about GTA 3 like the first true 3D open world game (sorry, Daggerfall). Now it’s Canon. Claude Speed’s rave in Liberty City set the stage for some of the most famous buildings used in modern action-adventure games. As developers around the world struggled to adapt to such radical changes, Sin City launched in 2002 and is a “magical place” for diehard fans – no matter when they first For play.
It’s important to stress that Bethesda Games Studios kind of cracked the code when it came to fully implementing a 3D world inhabited by “complex” NPCs – The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind (also 2002) is undeniably more technologically advanced than Vice City game. That being said, Rockstar has set the gold standard for sandboxes — with unprecedented freedom of movement — that can accommodate high-speed chases and ridiculous mayhem; GTA 3 and Vice City aren’t more of an update on existing formulas. Big try, but brand new beast.
On the subject of smart NPCs, Rockstar Games is rumored to be pushing the envelope in GTA 6, and after years of dull pedestrians, they’re still alive and kicking thanks to fun dialogue lines and realistic animations. There’s only so much you can do with the open world and mission design before your world’s inhabitants start falling behind. Generational leaps seem like the perfect opportunity to try something new, perhaps grab a few pages from Bethesda’s AI book.
Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) has pushed the last-gen hardware to its limits and offers some nifty little details and design improvements that help sell the game’s overall realism, but the NPCs still don’t feel as completely natural as Skyrim (2011 ). We’ve gotten to the point where video games feel not because they look better, but because of the way they play – and more importantly – reaction Give us. It seems Rockstar has noticed that it takes a huge internal jump to fully wow us with the next Grand Theft Auto. However, I’m again sure that game design that ties everything together doesn’t feel like a rip-off of what everyone else is doing.
One bullshit argument that seems to have taken over the GTA 6 conversation is to push the idea that Take-Two and Rockstar aren’t in a rush to play the game because GTA Online made them so much money after nine years, so why bother? I mean, we’re pretty sure they’ve been able to have their good time with RDR2 and GTA 6 because such a big hit gives them financial stability, but it’s good for what ends up on the shelves. In an industry where just about every studio is busy, having such a large and established AAA developer that launching mid-sized projects whenever they’re ready can only be described as a luxury.
There’s always debate about whether the latest big release is ready for release, and it seems to be happening all the time regardless of the actual state of the game’s release. We’ve been burned (and thus traumatized) too many times – those cyberpunk wounds take some time to heal – so why are we mad at GTA 6 for keeping a low profile in the final stages of development? It’s been great for everyone involved in the past; GTA 5 and RDR2 performed very well and are future-proofed as Rockstar Games has been squatting and ignoring outside noise (and trends) when needed. Additionally, enforced austerity and a toxic workplace culture no longer seem to be on the table.
The disastrous launch of the GTA Trilogy Remake isn’t a worrying sign either, at least not when it comes to Rockstar’s internal development efforts. The project is outsourced, like most of their previous port releases, and it sounds like the product of an upper-level attempt to rush out something “cheap and tempting” in the post-COVID world. Investors don’t please themselves! We’ve seen this happen before.
The sadder thing is the basic death of RDR Online in order to keep the GTA Online community in good shape until GTA 6 (and possibly GTA Online 2) arrives. RDR2’s multiplayer rollout was slow, and it’s understandable that cowboy RPGs aren’t as appealing to the average player as robbing banks and building criminal enterprises. A fancy car is cooler than an eventual flimsy horse, I guess. What is the point of this small disagreement? Future GTA efforts will get as many resources as needed.
If rumors are to be believed, GTA VI will also change its narrative. Recent reports say that this time players will take control of the bank robbery duo, which includes GTA’s first heroine. If successful, two of GTA 5’s biggest shortcomings will be addressed from the start: the missed opportunity to let the women escape the frustrating masculinity of the main storyline, and due to three separate POVs. Don’t get me wrong, I love GTA 5 and don’t think its narrative is getting enough credit, but there’s room for improvement. While RDR2 once again missed the chance to give Rockstar veterans a playable female character (Sadi deserves better), it does tell a much more concise and mature story. I don’t think the latter is a necessity for this game series – I think GTA IV’s dark tones only half worked – but more precise and slow storytelling might be just what the next GTA needs, especially if we’re Follow a couple in question.
I haven’t even touched on the discussion around the game’s location and time period – I think all of those are worth mentioning – but if we’re going to have trouble revisiting and upgrading old places, please sign up for My Sins city.Please make the countryside more interesting this time
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Well, sorry, but I do have an idea for this setting: the recent global socio-cultural and economic events are simply too good to be missed, and I really think it would be more intriguing to have Rockstar riff on all the shit than to go Satisfied with nostalgia just because. But hey, who knows, maybe they can make these two things reconcile. After all, Rockstar knows how to make the impossible possible.
