Grand Theft Auto Online is of course set to launch this Tuesday, finally allowing us to cause havoc on the streets (and deserts) of Los Santos with our friends. But why have we had to wait the two extra weeks for it rather than when GTA V itself was released? According to Dan Houser of Rockstar, it simply wasn't possible.
The main aim for GTA Online then, was to allow multiple players to take part in the myriad of activities available to them in an open world together while maintaining a large number of the freedoms they have in the single player, and it had taken Rockstar several attempts at multiplayer (starting from GTA IV onwards) to hone their craft: "We had many technical hurdles to overcome, which, is why when you think about maybe, four games from when you first started doing it, to getting it close to being right."
However, another reason Dan stated was how in their previous games with both a multiplayer and singleplayer components, players tended to jump briefly into MP before losing themselves back in the singleplayer: "It was almost like it was being cannibalised by the enormity of the single player game. People were just not focusing on it. So by moving it, we really wanted to go all in and make this much bigger, much more encompassing, a stand-alone product essentially."
Houser is also keen to stress why GTA Online is being considered as a separate game from GTA V: "I think that separating it out will just help people look at it as different products in their own mind a bit more and really give it a good chance to try and play it and enjoy it. Otherwise, you try it for two minutes, it's hard to connect because it's day one, and back you go to the single player, play that and never go back into playing online."
Do you agree with Houser's statements on singleplayer taking folk away from multiplayer, or do you think the reverse is true? If you're gearing up for Tuesday, don't forget to check out Aoife's list of ten things to do (with our gang, perhaps?) in GTA Online.
10 comments so far...
nnnruben on 28 Sep '13 said:
Could they not have started two weeks earlier...?
lazercut123 on 28 Sep '13 said:
Dude, these guys have been working their balls of for the past four years trying (and I believe succeeding) to make the best game they could. They have made their biggest, most detailed map, their best AI systems and what looks to be the best goddamn multiplayer in any game ever.
Some people may not like this game, but at least appreciate all the hard work they've put into it.
Sorry, but surely you must realise this.
Decent_Jam on 28 Sep '13 said:
I'm still not sure what were going to be faced with when we get in there. I mean, will players all spawn at a certain point in the map like they did for 4 or will they be wherever the other character they were just using was. I presume not otherwise it'd take half an hour just to get everyone together...
Will there be weapons about? How will the cash will work?
I'm sure I've missed a feature at some point which explains all this...
PCG The_B on 29 Sep '13 said:
Complete guess but I wouldn't be surprised if it works similar to Red Dead where you can party up and then if you need everyone in the party to be in a specific location for a heist or whatever then you use the phone to teleport them to you.
Just my guess though, I don't think they've given specifics yet.
Decent_Jam on 29 Sep '13 said:
Sounds very wise, I'd forgotten about that feature but it makes a lot of sense. Hopefully you can choose who to teleport too. Though I suppose there are helicopters lying about if you did want to go and do some mischievous things in the mountains.
So long as it is elementary or well explained when we get to it. Is it just me that finds the little info boxes which pop up on the top left in this game really really small? Admittedly it's because I'm sitting at the other end of the lounge when I play but I've had to get up and walk to the TV more than once, and there doesn't seem to be an option to make them any bigger.
Metalrodent on 29 Sep '13 said:
I know the game is an 18+ but what are you planning to do?
Decent_Jam on 29 Sep '13 said:
Oh you'll find out
you can count on it.
Bezza89 on 29 Sep '13 said:
Fun fact, you start off in a cargo plane and parachute into the world - if you start at the same time I'm sure you parachute together, but otherwise I'd assume you can spawn at points on the map like in RDR.
mackered on 29 Sep '13 said:
Did you not bother to read the article that you are posting to or did you just not understand it?
stusam2 on 30 Sep '13 said:
It wouldn't have made a difference. Staggering launches of this scale is the only viable option from what I've heard; friends with a couple of the devs and they'd still have had to focus on single player in the run up to launch as a priority even if they'd started a month earlier!
Would you rather have two fantastic gaming components, 2 weeks apart, or a broken, buggy single and multiplayer at the same time?