Former Rockstar technical director doesn’t expect GTA 6 to be a bigger jump from GTA 5

The arrival of ‘Grand Theft Auto 6′ in 2025 remains one of the most anticipated releases. The franchise has positioned itself as one of the best-selling, with ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ entering the mythical top 10 alongside titles such as Tetris, Wii Sports, Super Mario Bros. and others. Whether it is the story, the soundtrack or the graphical leap that this open world represents, people have had their eyes on it for many years. Obbe Vermeij, former technical director at Rockstar from 1995 to 2009, spoke with the SanInPlay channel about the possible technical leap that the next title in the franchise will have and the expectations that people should have.

Fans should not expect such a big technical leap with GTA VI

When you think about the history of Grand Theft Auto, you think about how the game jumped from GTA 2 to the 3D of GTA 3, how Vice City managed to pack in so much detail, how San Andreas added three cities and RPG elements, and how GTA IV made the leap to HD and GTA V gave us three protagonists, each title accompanied by the advancements of the time. For Veneij, that era of leaps and bounds will not be seen as much in GTA 6. “I think people might be a little disappointed on the first day, but it’s still gonna be the best game out there.”

Although Veneij notes that he has no inside information from Rockstar to make such comments, he does have certain comments about current video game development that support his claims. “It’s harder to make the same step (as earlier entries) again, because the technology is moving much slower. Like, the difference between PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 was enormous, and [for] PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 it’s not that big, so you don’t really have that technology jump to make things different and better,” said Veneij.

“I don’t know, maybe they pulled it off, maybe it’s amazing, but I think some people, their expectations might be a little too high. The jump from GTA 2 to GTA 3 was big, and from San Andreas to GTA 4 was very big. I don’t think we can ever see a jump like that again.”

However, Veneji does not think that all is lost and points out that there are elements in the first trailer that surprised him. “The scene that really blows me away is the one on the beach, where like everybody seems to be doing something else. Every character has got his own animation. I think that looks pretty amazing.”