95 replies to this topic

[Spider-Vice]

In a surprising turn of events, Imran Sarwar, the new producer for Grand Theft Auto at Rockstar North, has given out an exclusive intervew to GameInformer about GTA Online, its past, present and future.

 

This interview also reveals some details on why a SP DLC never happened (and likely never will) and many other confessions about what GTA Online has become, how surprising it was, even how it was seemingly dying up until 2014 and how difficult Heists were to develop.

 

Check it out!

 

[livejoker]

Does he say how difficult it was to escort The Benz out the door? "At first the door was locked but we finally got it unlocked and we pushed him out the door!"

Lengthy article, will definitely read this and will pop back with thoughts. Thanks for this!

So far I've seen pics by ChaosZake and EVO. That's insane!

"With GTA V, the single-player game was absolutely massive and very, very complete. It was three games in one." - Rockstar guy. That's not true. It's a shoddy story with 3 main characters, not 3 stories intertwined for 3 characters.

The way he discusses the business model for shark cards and how people not rich enough can ignore the new stuff scares me. I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see that business model used for RDR2 where richer or grind-hungry players will get better guns/mounts/etc.

[fashion]

Took them a long ass time to admit SP DLC is never coming. It's still great news R* loves and cares for singleplayer.

[Matrelith]

Good interview. The news about the SP DLC isn't that surprising, but it's good to see that they at least considered it, but ultimately didn't make it due to other projects. I can imagine it would be quite hectic to work at Rockstar. 

 

 

''multiplayer games don’t rival single-player games''

 

QFT

[universetwisters]

>Bikers has the Lost MC helping you set up shop

Did Sawar even play the game he's talking about?

[Spaghetti Cat]

Clicked on the link, but after six minutes of loading I rage quit.

[HeavyDuke]

The way he discusses the business model for shark cards and how people not rich enough can ignore the new stuff scares me. I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see that business model used for RDR2 where richer or grind-hungry players will get better guns/mounts/etc.

Its pretty much a given at this point that next GTA:O will have a sh*tty sp at best along with an overly expensive PVP based online mp.

[MostWantedMVP]

Singleplayer comes first, always will.

[Good Hombre]

MAKE SINGLEPLAYER GREAT AGAIN

[Dacelo]

Quoting a comment I found elsewhere cuz it sums it up better than I could

 

Just in time for the marketing engine to start up for the new Red Dead Redemption. Actions speak louder than words, we'll see what really ends up happening.

I'd wait until we actually see SP updates in RDR2 to start believing that R* GAF about postlaunch singleplayer content.

[DOUGL4S1]

If anything, this means that, theoretically, GTA Online didn't kill Rockstar, as they are working in Red Dead Redemption II and "future projects". I say theoretically because anything could change or go wrong in the meantime.

With both GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption, we sold DLC and unfortunately both times, it fractured the audience and helped to kill the games much faster than they deserved.

I don't really agree with this. Both games had a pretty huge community before GTA V. The only thing EFLC did was split the community in Multiplayer, as people with only IV couldn't play with people with EFLC. Still, I could easily find lobbies in GTA IV, with all gamemodes, not to count the people doing events.

With GTA Online, if there’s content people don’t like or want, they can simply ignore it and do something else, while still being in the same core world as everyone else.

I don't like the Hydra, or the lock-on missiles. Will this prevent me from being killed by them?

One of the enjoyable things about working on a project like this is that you can iterate quickly, and change and evolve plans fairly quickly too, so we don’t have to be as clear in our plans as with other projects.

So, you like Online because you can copy-paste stuff with minor changes and minimal effort and release it as new with noone knowing? Yeah, sounds like GTA Online.

[EVOLUT7ON]

Check it out!

Seems like I'm very dangerous


Is it possible to see full article here (on GTAforums)? Like you (we) always do with R* Newswire, please?

[Spider-Vice]

The article is very big, which is why I chose not to include its body. You can try this archive.is link, it should work: https://archive.is/vE49g

[Mister Pink]

Haven't finished the article but did read about the SP DLC situation. It's so refreshing just to hear a comment on the DLC issue. I was angry there was no SP DLC just goes to show what a little transparency can do. I also think this more candid interview about Rockstar's thinking and rationale behind the creative/production decisions is signalling the "beginning of the end" for GTA V/Online. It's a bit of an autopsy if you will. We never ever really hear Rockstar's thinking behind their motives. It's great to hear even if I disagreed with some of the choices. 

 

Also, this is nice to read...

 

...but we still love single-player open-world games more than anything. I don’t think you could make a game like GTA V if you did not like single-player games and trying to expand their possibilities!

 

I don't know about the freemium model of GTA Online. They seem to be doubling down on it being the best way. Well if that's case, I think they should adjust the pricing in the in-game economy and/or if you buy a Shark Card, you get matched with other Shark Card players. Those of us that earn cash through playing can go against each other. I think that's only fair. Competing in a game where someone pays real cash for in-game cash is kills immersion for me. It's the pursuit of the almighty dollar in a game yet guy the next is using real money. Do they not see how that's kind of ridiculous? It's nice flashing a sweet car of having a great apartment early-on but there's zero bragging rights to be had seeing as people can "pay to win." I don't mean to be cheap either, I bought GTA V twice and I buy DLC. I just don't like freemium models

 

Otherwise, great article and nice to read about how things were difficult regarding heists etc. Heists were probably a highlight of Online for me. 

[raebbitos]

three games into one? no, not at all more like 1 game divided in 3 plus a cashgrab online mode.

[EVOLUT7ON]

The article is very big, which is why I chose not to include its body. You can try this archive.is link, it should work: https://archive.is/vE49g

Doesn't work... Well, I've just installed VPN app, and changed my ip. Works fine now Thanks for your help.

[Maibatsu545]

This Imram sounds like an ignorant c*nt. Just another mindless greedy drone just like Straus Zelnick. f*ck him.

[Shaundi.]

Imran Sarwar and Strauss Zelnick are definitely f*ck buddies.

[Jimmy]

That's one hell of a lengthy interview for Sarwar. Is he familiar with GTA:O though? It doesn't seem like that. The SP DLC was a long overdue. Hopefully they don't make it crappy. He should have mentioned the insane amount of money they've been making from those Shark cards.

[The Odyssey]

With GTA V, the single-player game was absolutely massive and very, very complete.

 

Yes, because single player is "too complete" and doesn't need any add ons for property purchase, running organisations, import/exports, lowriders and yachts but they're completely necessary for GTA Online which is a totally different game, right? Hm. No. Online is still not complete enough. Better throw in parachute cars and flying RPG motorcycles. 

[Nem_Wan]

I never believed they consciously abandoned single-player DLC. I've always believed Brendan McNamara's observation that Rockstar on the whole does one thing at a time, no matter how big they get they try to bring all their resources to bear on what they're releasing next. When problems came up, it ate into the time to do whatever they may have planned to do. There was limited time to do it because GTAV was released toward the tail-end of a console generation that was going to be discontinued, and then you lose all those millions of potential DLC buyers.

 

Things happened that pushed SP DLC off the table. GTAV came out, Online launched, but Heists were not ready, not close to ready, they had to be done over. They had explicitly promised Heists and had to fulfill that, priority one. They also had to immediately remaster the game for next-gen consoles so the game would have a future, priority two. Between those two things everybody who might have worked on SP DLC was best utilized helping to get those top priorities done sooner.

 

By the time those two things were done, the window for SP DLC that could have sold successfully on both last-gen and current-gen had closed. The new information this interview reveals is that Online was "failing" in its first year, pre-heists, losing players. That would have been bad for their SP DLC plans too, because it meant the active user base was shrinking — even fewer potential customers. It was obvious in this and past interviews that Rockstar is disappointed that the really excellent SP DLC they did last-gen wasn't played by more people and that they blame the structure and timing of how it was released. They weren't going to risk doing SP DLC that they'd be proud to make with all these other challenges going on at the same time and keeping them from having perfect timing and control over how to market and launch the product successfully.

[B Dawg]

 

With both GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption, we sold DLC and unfortunately both times, it fractured the audience and helped to kill the games much faster than they deserved.

I don't really agree with this. Both games had a pretty huge community before GTA V. The only thing EFLC did was split the community in Multiplayer, as people with only IV couldn't play with people with EFLC. Still, I could easily find lobbies in GTA IV, with all gamemodes, not to count the people doing events

The fact that they were separate is a good thing imo. I certainly wouldn't want TLAD's Street Sweeper in IVMP, or TBOGT's Buzzard and Explosive Shotgun.

[highspeed]

A very interesting read. 

 

I find it very shady that the fact they talk about in game money and shark cards, but not once is it anywhere mentioned about thousands of players accounts being "adjusted" by R*. As a business practice, this is beyond f*cked. I haven't even played online (yet), so I have no money to lose. After reading all the stories on the thread on this site, I feel for a lot of the players. For it not even to be mentioned in this interview, it's low.

 

Damn it R*, you are making it really easy on yourselves to make me hate you some days..

[REXX]

Half of what I read was literally pure bullsh*t. They didn'didn't apologize for all the legit accounts that had hard earned money removed. They mostly spoke about Sharkcards... not even a thanks to the players.

Leslie Benzie needs a come back to give this company a kick up the ass.

I appreciate their game and I will continue play like I do But after reading that, they really need to pull their finger out.

[Sanches]

"Hey, community is doing our job with the mods. Let's forbid that!"

[Voodoo-Hendrix]

With GTA Online, if theres content people dont like or want, they can simply ignore it and do something else, while still being in the same core world as everyone else.

Sure, cuz I can ignore completely all these spam calls wanting me to buy a MC Business, an Office Garage, a Bunker, a Hangar...

[APB]

It seems GTA V was the last GTA that I bought. Screw them for being greedy like everyone else these days.

 

Also screw Adv modes, they should be the least important thing.

[Zaniness]

Thanks to this article now I know that not liking the in-game prices and their fish card equivalents makes me a racist.

[Sanches]

Sure, cuz I can ignore completely all these spam calls wanting me to buy a MC Business, an Office Garage, a Bunker, a Hangar...

Yeah, now Oppressor isn't a problem anymore. I just ignore it's rockets.

[StangOne50]

This turd would have been better off keeping his mouth shut.

R looks like even bigger scumbags now then ever before.