What can GTAV tell us about the direction of GTA?

[SDBred619]

I'd wager R* is already hard at work on the next GTA for a few reasons 1) They without a doubt already have devkits 2) The amount of work involved is doubled as they are almost assuredly creating a new engine for their next generation of games.

 

Realistically they probably have a rough outline of what they want the story and scope to be and are in the beginning stages of creating that next gen engine. Being R* they will probably test the engine in a different game altogether first. Maybe a new Red Dead R?

 

Where do they go from here? I'm already pretty impressed with the scope of GTAV. Personally I don't think the major upgrades will involve map size but detail. R* has shown with GTAIV they would rather create a real living, breathing city than expand their map size. They could have very easily turned the graphics up a bit from San Andreas and created a huuuuuge playable area with hundreds of side quests and things to do. Instead they chose to focus in on the details, even if sacrificing map size and features.

 

I'd imagine they'd continue to remold these original cities into something more and more believable. Map size will probably remain roughly static, maybe 2 cities. Would they go back to Vice City, adding the keys and swamps? Miami isn't exactly what it used to be and going back to the 80's risks rehashing the original. Go back to Liberty City? Or maybe they'll add San Fierro and Las Venturas to GTAV's map, essentially reimagining San Andreas, that'd be pretty cool. Is it going to be an all new "universe" or connected to IV and V?

 

Maybe it's bit too early for speculation but god dammit news is slow.