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| A close-up image of Niko Belić along with the GTA IV logo |
As the hype for Grand Theft Auto VI reaches a fever pitch, the gaming community’s imagination is running wild. With the series set to return to the sun-soaked, neon-tinged streets of a Vice City-inspired Leonida, some fans are left wondering: could Rockstar ever take a sharp turn into the future? Could we ever see a Grand Theft Auto Cyberpunk?
According to a key former Rockstar developer, the answer is a definitive and surprising no.
The "Hated" Experiment: Inside GTA 2's Development
In a revealing new interview, Obbe Vermeij, former technical director of Rockstar North, pulled back the curtain on one of the franchise's most unique entries: 1999's GTA 2. While the sequel is remembered for its grid-based, top-down chaos and a daring futuristic setting, its legacy within the halls of Rockstar is far more complicated.
In his conversation with GamesHub, Vermeij delivered a blunt assessment: "The team that made GTA 2 hated it."
He wasn't on the project himself but was seated right next to the development team. "I could hear all the yelling and the conversations and stuff," he recalled. The core of their frustration? The futuristic shift itself. Setting the game in a metropolis of the future (whether 1999 or 2013, as the game ambiguously suggests) meant the team couldn't rely on established frameworks.
"They didn’t like the idea of going into the future because they had to reinvent everything, like how weapons work and everything else," Vermeij explained. Every car, weapon, and piece of tech had to be designed from scratch for this new world, a painstaking process that ultimately didn't resonate with the creators.
A Disconnect with Players
This internal struggle translated to the player experience. Despite introducing pulse rifles, electro guns, and hovercars, GTA 2 failed to capture the same gritty, relatable charm as its predecessor.
"People didn’t connect with the game or its city as much as they did with GTA 1," Vermeij stated. This is a telling point, considering GTA 2 was by no means a commercial failure—it sold a respectable over 3 million copies. Yet, in the shadow of the cultural tsunamis that would be GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas, those numbers became a mere footnote. It proved that for Grand Theft Auto, connection and atmosphere were far more valuable than pure novelty.
So, Will Rockstar Ever Gamble on a Futuristic GTA?
When directly asked if the series would ever revisit a dystopian future, Vermeij’s answer was immediate: "No."
His reasoning cuts to the heart of modern blockbuster game development and the immense weight of the GTA brand today. "GTA is just too valuable," he said. "It could be cool, but you just don’t want to gamble with it like that."
He points to the franchise's unprecedented cultural impact as the deciding factor. Today, GTA isn't just a game; it's a meme factory, a social conversation starter, and a perpetual source of online engagement.
"You just have far less of that if it were set in some vision of the future, I think," Vermeij concluded. A fictionalized, satirical version of our own world provides immediate, relatable fodder for that endless cycle of "hits and clicks and views." A speculative future risks alienating that core magic.
The Road Ahead is Grounded in Reality
Rockstar's strategy for decades has been a masterclass in refining a winning formula. From the 3D revolution of Liberty City to the upcoming, incredibly detailed swamps and cities of Leonida in GTA VI, the focus has been on deepening the immersion in worlds that mirror our own, flaws and all.
The message from this insider insight is clear: Rockstar Games learned a pivotal lesson from GTA 2. The soul of Grand Theft Auto lies in the twisted reflection of our present, not the uncertainty of a cyberpunk future. For fans awaiting the next chapter, they can rest assured that the developers are doubling down on the grounded, chaotic, and culturally resonant satire that made the series a phenomenon.
Want to revisit the game that defined the modern open-world formula? You can find Grand Theft Auto V, the current benchmark for the series, available here on Amazon.