Former Rockstar Dev Says GTA 6 Should Focus on Small and Dense World

The development of GTA 6 is moving full speed ahead, and Rockstar Games is finally expected to deliver the next game in the series by 2025, over ten years after the last Grand Theft Auto title.

Continuing the tradition, GTA 6 is expected to be Rockstar Games’ biggest and most ambitious game. Ahead of this release, however, a former developer of the studio believes going bigger may not be the best approach for the game.

Why it matters: The gaming industry aims for bigger worlds, longer games, and more content with each new release. With Rockstar Games having pioneered the open-world genre after GTA 3, the developer is likely to follow suit.

PCGamesN recently spoke to Tony Gowland, a former Rockstar Games developer who has worked on games like GTA Liberty City Stories and Red Dead Redemption.

When asked about his wishes for GTA 6, the developer referred to the size of the open-world map and said:

“A smaller but more densely packed location would bring back some of that navigation that I loved.”

He used Vice City as an example, stating that it was the perfect size for an open-world city. However, modern games have pushed for much bigger worlds, making such a world appear small by today’s standards.

The developer believes this size meant that players could learn the routes and landmarks of the city without much trouble, which may not be as easy to do today given the vast open worlds seen in games today.

Recently, games like Assassin’s Creed Mirage have taken this approach, offering a smaller map packed with more detail. A compact map would likely benefit GTA 6 even more since the studio has proven to be proficient in crafting exceptional worlds.

On the subject of Vice City, GTA 6 is expected to return to this location after last year’s leaks practically confirmed this detail about the game. Rockstar Games will likely deliver a different take on the city this time, though locations like Malibu Club were found in the leaks.

We agree with the developer’s statement since many modern open worlds feel too big and bloated. A more condensed world, while small, would present more opportunities for engaging activities, more detailed environments, and more.

At the same time, however, the prospect of another massive open world from Rockstar Games also sounds exciting. Therefore, we would be open to either approach since the developer has seldom let us down with the Grand Theft Auto franchise.

Nonetheless, GTA 6 is still quite far from its release date.

Many fans were recently hoping for a reveal in October, theorizing and speculating about 26 October as a potential date. Evidently, this did not come to fruition, but the game is still on track for Fiscal Year 2025 if Take-Two’s hints are anything to go by.

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