Home Gaming A GTA retrospective – GTA V ends an era in style

A GTA retrospective – GTA V ends an era in style

3 min read
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GTAHD2

Following the blockbuster release of Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar once again got back to work on their iconic franchise in 2009. Not only aiming for a game that looked bigger, better and hewed closer to the ridiculous side of the franchise, Rockstar wanted to create a game that told a better story. And the best way to do that, was to triple down on the ambitions.

History

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Once again using the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE), GTA V would boast even more technological accomplishments than its predecessor. The RAGE engine was overhauled to now include higher textures, resolutions and increased draw distances. Rockstar fielded a development team of over a 1000 people for GTA V, who would take advantage of their work done on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game to create a much larger world for players to engage in. Returning to San Andreas, Rockstar remodelled the fan favourite locale further on Los Angeles and Southern California, sending teams to properly research those areas.

GTAHD8

Road networks would feel more authentic, inner city areas felt more demographically correct and the entire open-world structure was once again revamped to be even more realistic than before. It was business as usual at Rockstar then, but a ton of effort was also being poured into development of the three main leads of the game. Michael, a former bank robber who got away with the score of a lifetime, Franklin, an inner-city resident who dreamed of hitting the big time and moving on from the hood and Trevor, a violent sociopath with a hair-trigger temper formed a new unholy trinity of GTA leads.

GTAHD10

The idea to have the game feature three protagonists instead of one  had been floated before at Rockstar when they began work on GTA: San Andreas, but the technology to properly realise that idea had yet to present itself. Now, players were able to switch on the fly between the leads, while the remaining two characters went on and lived their own lives inside the game. Played by Ned Luke, Shawn Fonteno and Steven Ogg, GTA V would mark a radical change in how players engaged in reckless violence and destruction. Rockstar would also up the music count in this GTA, with a selection of radio stations that had over 241 songs available initially.

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Officially announced on October 2011, anticipation for the game spread like wildfire, before it finally released on September 17 in 2013.

Impact

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Yet another smash hit for Rockstar, GTA V opened to rave reviews all around the world. Scores were through the roof, with our review calling it “an evolution of all their previous work, all combined into one sandbox experience on a massive scale”. IGN called the game “one of the very best video games ever made”, while Edge wrote that it was a “remarkable achievement” in open world design and storytelling.

Sales

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24 hours after release, and GTA V had already made over $800 million worldwide with an estimated 11.21 million copies sold, nearly double what analysts were predicting at the time. Three days after release, game sales passed the $1 billion mark, setting a record for the fastest-selling entertainment product in history.

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After six weeks, over 29 million copies of the game had been shipped to retailers on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 formats, with GTA V becoming the best selling game of all time on the PS3. As of August 2014, the game had sold-in over 34 million units to retailers for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. As of May 2014, the game had generated over $1.98 billion in revenue, shipping over 45 million copies to retailers as of 31 December 2014.

But the best was yet to come, as a new and improved version of GTA V would arrive on newer consoles, before finally landing on the promised LAN of the PC platform…

Last Updated: April 16, 2015

41 Comments

  1. ROCKSTEADY????? You do realize you just called your girlfriend your ex’s name in bed, right? Paragraph 1, by the way…

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief asked for this

      April 16, 2015 at 14:35

      *waves hand
      You saw nothing

      Reply

      • Dutch Matrix

        April 16, 2015 at 14:35

        I saw everything of Darryn’s junk!

        Reply

        • Blood Emperor Trevor

          April 16, 2015 at 14:35

          Technically the mankini covers it.

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief asked for this

            April 16, 2015 at 14:36

            Not a lot to cover in any case

          • Hammersteyn

            April 16, 2015 at 14:47

            Like Mr. Chow from Hangover 2?

          • Admiral Chief asked for this

            April 16, 2015 at 14:48

            Never watched any after the first one

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            April 16, 2015 at 14:48

            You didn’t miss anything.

          • Admiral Chief asked for this

            April 16, 2015 at 14:49

            So I’ve heard

        • Admiral Chief asked for this

          April 16, 2015 at 14:36

          I shall arrange the mandatory counselling

          Reply

          • Dutch Matrix

            April 16, 2015 at 14:37

            Please. I was expecting BatJunk. Instead I found a bat’s junk…

          • Hammersteyn

            April 16, 2015 at 14:38

            You should never see the bat feed.

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            April 16, 2015 at 14:38

            Bat junk describes D’s sailing holiday on Geoff’s boat.

          • Dutch Matrix

            April 16, 2015 at 14:39

            Geoff’s got a boat? Is it a Schooner?

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            April 16, 2015 at 14:40

            🙁

          • Dutch Matrix

            April 16, 2015 at 14:41

            Why 🙁 ? It’s a legetimate question!

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            April 16, 2015 at 14:44

            It’s a JUNK! 🙁

          • Dutch Matrix

            April 16, 2015 at 14:46

            Oh. Missed opportunity. Ever so sorry.

  2. Hammersteyn

    April 16, 2015 at 14:39

    Trevor needs to get his own expansion. Also it would be cool if the he could join you in online missions.

    Reply

    • Ir0nseraph

      April 16, 2015 at 14:41

      Yeah Trevor was the best character out of the 3.

      Reply

  3. RinceThis

    April 16, 2015 at 14:49

    I agree. One of the best games I’ve played. I actually couldn’t get enough. The game stole so much of my life, and I would carry on giving!

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief asked for this

      April 16, 2015 at 14:52

      It’s not like it could have stolen your soul or anything

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        April 16, 2015 at 14:54

        • Admiral Chief asked for this

          April 16, 2015 at 14:58

          😀

          Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          April 16, 2015 at 15:00

          Show hm the magic trick with the pencil

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief asked for this

            April 16, 2015 at 15:00

            It’s….gone

          • Admiral Chief asked for this

            April 16, 2015 at 15:00

            It’s….gone

  4. CuddlesaurusRex

    April 16, 2015 at 14:55

    One of only 4 games that I have played from beginning to end more than once.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief asked for this

      April 16, 2015 at 14:57

      The other being?

      Reply

      • CuddlesaurusRex

        April 16, 2015 at 15:01

        God of war 3, Tomb Raider (reboot) and sleeping dogs (4 times).

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief asked for this

          April 16, 2015 at 15:02

          Dat Tomb Raider!

          I’ve yet to play SD, even though I got it for free a few years ago with my 7870

          Reply

          • CuddlesaurusRex

            April 16, 2015 at 15:04

            The new and improved Lara is bad ass! You are in for a treat. It is so much of the awesome!

          • Skoobaz

            April 16, 2015 at 15:06

            Sleeping Dogs dawg! Winner! Go for it, The combat alone is awesome. If you’re jamming on pc get the hi def pack.

    • Dutch Matrix

      April 16, 2015 at 15:08

      I read your name as Cuddlesex. Sweet Lords of the House I am tired.

      Reply

      • Ir0nseraph

        April 16, 2015 at 15:09

        XD

        Reply

      • CuddlesaurusRex

        April 16, 2015 at 15:12

        Wahahaha, you should hear some folk try swear at me online…

        Reply

  5. Dutch Matrix

    April 16, 2015 at 15:06

    I think Darryn hates me now… 🙁 And all I wanted to do was help. Fine. I was obnoxious. BUT I ONLY WANTED TO HELP!

    Reply

    • The D

      April 16, 2015 at 18:47

      I was being load-shed mate, no hard feelings. I do hate you though, since you stole my last packet of Rolos from under my nose.

      Reply

  6. Greylingad

    April 16, 2015 at 15:40

    Undoubtedly The best open world game available, yes I know I’ve said it before, but man, everything, from gunplay to driving, to the online side of it… One day, just maybe, I might get tired of it, but that will take almost an eternity…

    Reply

  7. Blackhawk

    April 16, 2015 at 19:49

    Great retrospective, guys! I hope you do another one when the next installment of The Elder Scrolls is released!

    Reply

  8. Darina

    July 8, 2015 at 05:24

    All the grand theft auto game develper Rockstar have to do is to include real (maybe when the VR technique is advanced to that level) female playable characters with bikini everytime a latest version of the game is released, this game will sell like hotcake! 😀

    Reply

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