GTA 6 'Probably' Won't Cost $100, Says Former Rockstar Games Developer
Will GTA 6 turn out to be the first $100 game? Here is what Obbe Vermeij, the former technical director at Rockstar North, has said about the upcoming game.
Obbe Vermeij, the former technical director at Rockstar North, has revealed that the video game company had once planned Grand Theft Auto games set in international cities like Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Istanbul and Tokyo. Amid the speculations of a $100 price tag for GTA 6, he also revealed why it ‘probably’ won’t happen.
In an interview with Gameshub last week, Vermeij talked about wide-ranging topics, including the Grand Theft Auto series and the highly anticipated launch of GTA 6.
The settings in GTA games have largely been inspired by several American cities, except for the London-set 1999 expansion for the maiden title and GTA 2, which was set in a futuristic American city.
Vermeij, who earlier worked on GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas and GTA IV, said that they had initially desired to take GTA to an international setting, but "it’s like talking about alternative projects at Rockstar when you really start thinking about it."
"We had ideas about GTA games in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow and Istanbul. Tokyo almost actually happened. Another studio in Japan was going to do it, take our code and do GTA: Tokyo. But then that didn’t happen in the end," Vermeij told Gameshub.
He thinks it is unlikely to see an upcoming GTA game set in a city outside the US since people are familiar with major American cities, including those who have never been to any of these places.
Also, it is risky, considering the billions of dollars riding on it.
“I think it's unlikely it's going to be in Bogota next time, especially since there's just more and more money involved as the project gets bigger. It doesn't make sense to set it in some left-field location for novelty. GTA: Toronto? It just wouldn't work,” he said.
Further, Vermeij said it was "unrealistic" to consider having a future GTA game set in Europe.
Recently, Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser explained why the series continues to remain deeply rooted in the American backdrop.
"We made a little thing in London 26 years ago, GTA London, for the top-down, for the PS1. That was pretty cute and fun, as the first mission pack ever for PlayStation 1," Houser said while appearing on the Lex Fridman podcast.
Obbe Vermeij On GTA 6 Price
On the upcoming game's Vice City setting, Vermeij said it was "exciting to revisit it and the trailers look absolutely amazing." He thinks it will be a "good setting", and he is really looking forward to it.
While many are expecting the GTA 6 to cost around $100, way above the industry standard of $60-$70 for a triple-A release, Vermeij said the new game from Rockstar might not be priced at $100.
“Rockstar haven’t said anything about $100. This is just something that the internet has decided," he said.
He believes that the video game company "probably won't do that".
