It’s been nearly a decade of GTA Online, which has travelled over from Xbox 360 to Xbox One and then to Xbox Series X|S, and design director Scott Butchard spoke about how “the success of GTA Online is nothing we ever expected.”
We’ve been patiently waiting for news of GTA 6, but GTA Online has travelled along with us. The game is almost ten years old; something that even seems to surprise its developers, with design director Scott Butchard saying, “I don’t think we could have ever dreamed we’d still be going ten years on.”
GTA Online’s tenth anniversary is approaching
“When we started out, I don’t think we could have ever dreamed we’d still be going ten years on. The success of GTA Online is nothing we ever expected,” Butchard said to GamesRadar. Butchard adds that they first viewed GTA Online “primarily as a multiplayer experience,” but “As time went on, we realised so much of the experience works better when we provide more potential to enjoy the game on an individual level, and that the core experience can then be changed and improved upon by playing with others.”
Butchard later credits the importance of player feedback to GTA Online’s current state, saying, “the community’s contribution to the overall design of the game has only increased over time — our vision remains, but it’s in a beautiful partnership with the community. We still have our plans but they’re less hard locked in than they once were to allow for this external input. We are always working to balance things in a way that makes sense for every player and play style, so that there’s always something for everyone to have fun doing.”
It doesn’t sound as though plans for more GTA Online content will dry up any time soon, either, as Butchard says the team has “a bunch of ideas in the works right now, all the way up until the Holidays at the end of the year, so please stay tuned!”
GTA V remains one of the best Xbox open world games, and we’re keeping an eye out for any news of what might come next with GTA 6. In the meantime, what do you make of Butchard’s comments about GTA Online, and the fact that its tenth anniversary is coming up? Let us know!
