Former GTA dev says Rockstar had so long to make San Andreas that it "went crazy" with the amount of stuff added

A former Grand Theft Auto developer has said Rockstar had so much time to make San Andreas that it "went crazy" with all the features that were added.

In the interview with SanInPlay below, former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij reflected back on an extensive career making GTA games, including, in particular, San Andreas. Vermeij recalls how Rockstar had "a lot of time" to make San Andreas, roughly three years, and so the developer "went crazy in the features" for the follow-up.

"We were like stealth and skydiving and all these bikes, articulated lorries - it was just ridiculous. And of course, the three cities," Vermeij adds of San Andreas' development. "And then at the end of that, we thought, 'Ok, that was dumb,' because we didn't have to do it. We could do half of it and it would still be very good," the former Rockstar North technical director adds. 

This significantly changed Rockstar's mindset for GTA 4, its next game. "So we knew for GTA 4, we had to make a big jump and work to make the animation better and the city better and all that stuff. So that's why we cut down the features on purpose. So that we could actually make it a much more polished, much more beautiful game. And then worry about the additional features later on," Vermeij reveals.

In fact, Vermeij thinks Rockstar made GTA 4 "a little too serious" and "too dark," which is one of the reasons why he departed the developer in 2009. The fact that San Andreas had whacky aspects like stealth and skydiving could be a major reason why Vermeij prefers the older GTA games, but the former technical director stops short of outright linking the two.

Meanwhile at Rockstar, GTA 6's development rumbles on, and right now it's slated for launch in 2025. SAG-AFTRA recently confirmed that GTA 6 won't be impacted by the ongoing voice actor's strike over protections against AI, as production on the Rockstar game has been going for more than a year.

Eagle-eyed GTA 6 fans think Rockstar could be hinting