Obbe Vermeij was once a lynchpin of the DMA and Rockstar North teams that built the early 3D Grand Theft Autos, and was the studio's technical director until leaving in 2009, shortly after the release of GTA 4. Vermeij is now working on his own projects, including the chilled map-shaper Plentiful, but in recent times has also taken to reminiscing about the Rockstar days and, though he's no longer an insider, offering some insight about how GTA 6 is being handled.
Ever since the first GTA 6 trailer offered a loose 2025 release date, there has been speculation that this will be pushed back. To be fair this is based on previous GTAs being delayed, but as Vermeij points out these decisions cannot realistically be taken until you're getting closer to the release date anyway.
"The decision to delay GTA 4 was made four months or so before the original release date," says Vermeij. "Any further and it's hard to make the call. Rockstar is probably not in a position to determine whether they will hit 2025 until May-ish."
Vermeij went on to reflect on the reasons for GTA 4's delay. "It really wasn't ready yet," says Vermeij. "It would have been a mess. Delaying is almost always the right option imo." Asked about specific reasons, Vermeij said "there were a bunch of things that weren't ready. The PS3 version was lagging but also a bunch of missions needed a bit more time. There were a lot of code bugs as well. As I remember the art was done on time."
GTA 6 is of course going to be much bigger and more complex than GTA 4, with 17 years of technological progress (at least) separating the two. So, nothing to worry about! But as Vermeij goes on to point out, from Rockstar's perspective, that really is the case.
"GTA 6 will sell for 10+ years and there is no competition to worry about," says Vermeij. "They are not going to release the game until they're 100% happy with it. No matter what it said in the trailer."
"If it releases in 2025 or 2026, it makes no difference because I have a PC," says Bill_Nye (I somehow doubt it's the science guy) in response.
"2027 for you I'm afraid," jokes Vermeij. Well, fingers crossed it's a joke.
As for who'll be making any of these calls, Vermeij's answer is unsurprising: "Take-Two let Rockstar make their own decisions and I don't think there is any reason to change that now."
Vermeij is always careful to caveat his observations around the fact he left Rockstar a long time ago, and is not talking based on any insider info or sources. He just happens to be a voice of tremendous experience, and it's impossible to argue with most of his points. With Take-Two, for example, CEO Strauss Zelnick explicitly tells shareholders that "we're seeking perfection" and it'll be done when it's done. I can't recall a single other example of a CEO in the games industry saying something like that to the investors.
GTA 6 is due to release in 2025. Delay or no delay, the worst we've been thinking in PC Gamer towers is that we'll get it sometime in 2026. The thought of 2027… please, just please no.
