GTA 4 dev shares behind-the-scenes tidbits on the game's 17th anniversary

Rockstar Games released GTA 4 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles on April 29, 2008. It is highly rated within the gaming community for its gritty and compelling narrative, as well as characters like the protagonist, Niko Bellic, and has turned 17 today.

Fans are taking a look back at the title on this occasion, and so is Obbe Vermeij, former Technical Director at Rockstar who worked on it along with many other entries in the Grand Theft Auto franchise.

Reminiscing about GTA 4's development on X, the former Rockstar dev talked about how many GTA San Andreas features didn't return as they were focused on making this game "truly next-gen".

"To focus on making the game truly next-gen, we dropped many game features from San Andreas. Stats (fitness, weight), Multiple cities, Stealth, Underwater swimming, Jet packs, Tanks, Bicycles, Monster trucks, Car modding, Planes…"

Obbe Vermeij also revealed that its missions were designed to suit the story, and that Xbox 360 was chosen as the lead platform, as, according to him, it was difficult to work with the PS3.

Ex-Rockstar dev talks about GTA 4 delay and his expectation of the series becoming darker being wrong

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In the same tweet as talked about above, ex-Rockstar Games Technical Director, Obbe Vermeij, revealed that the originally planned release date for Grand Theft Auto 4 was October 16, 2007. However, the decision to delay it was made in July that year, as it wouldn't have been possible to hit that deadline.

"The original release date was October 16th 2007, in time for Christmas. We made the decision to delay the game in July 2007. Only at that time did it become clear we were going to miss the deadline."

He also stated that he had expected the series to continue getting "darker and more serious" and that Grand Theft Auto 5 proved this expectation of his wrong. GTA 4 explores mature and gritty themes, but its successor went pretty much in the opposite direction with its narrative.

Check out: 17 years of GTA 4: Remembering Niko Bellic’s epic story that pulled no punches

Another interesting point mentioned in Obbe Vermeij's tweet was regarding Grand Theft Auto 5's multiplayer. The former Rockstar dev talked about realizing a 32-player network game which eventually evolved into GTA Online. It is worth noting that Vermeij didn't work on Grand Theft Auto 5, and had left Rockstar Games in 2009.

That title has kept players entertained for a long time, but they are now looking forward to Grand Theft Auto 6. Notably, Vermeij stated in a comment under the tweet above that if it were up to him, he wouldn't release additional trailers for the sequel as there already is a lot of hype, and the element of surprise would make its release a bigger event.

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So far, only one official GTA 6 trailer has been showcased. Whether Rockstar Games drops more leading up to the title's Fall 2025 release remains to be seen.

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About the author

Suyash is an Esports and Gaming journalist at Sportskeeda who specializes in Rockstar Games' GTA franchise. Suyash uses in-depth research and knowledge of his immense experience with the game series to ensure readers have access to the most reliable information. His insightful content pieces have raked in more than 5 million views in just a little over a year's time.

Suyash holds a B.Tech degree and ventured into the world of gaming at a young age through the Prince of Persia Sands of Time trilogy. However, upon encountering GTA Vice City’s 1980s aesthetic, music, and vintage cars, he became enamored with the game, leading him to explore the rest of the franchise.

Suyash prefers solo titles to multiplayer, especially ones with a well-crafted story and character arcs. He admires journalist Jason Schreier for the respect he commands in the industry and the reliability of his news pieces. To ensure the accuracy of his own pieces, he checks multiple reputable sources and insiders.

If he were to recommend a game to a skeptic, it would be Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series. When he’s not roaming the streets of Los Santos in GTA V, you can find him playing football, watching movies, or working out.

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Edited by Ritoban "Veloxi" Paul