GTA Online creators say the game’s success was “something unexpected”

It’s been almost 10 years since Grand Theft Auto V was released and the game remains one of the biggest and most successful games, with over 175 million units sold.

That kind of success is unprecedented, to say the least, and it would be fair to say that it’s due in no small part to the enduring success of Grand Theft Auto Online, the ever-present and ever-expanding online component of the game, which is also now available. as a separate experience.

Not even Rockstar could have anticipated the success of GTA Online, oddly enough, and that’s exactly what design director Scott Butchard has said. recently speaking with GamesRadar, Butchard revealed that before GTA Online started, they never imagined that it would go strong ten years after the game’s release, and the success it has achieved has far exceeded anything they expected at the time.

“When we started, I don’t think we could have dreamed that we would continue 10 years later,” he said. “The success of GTA Online is nothing we have expected.”

And unsurprisingly, Rockstar seems to have no plans to slow down and has big things planned for GTA Online.

“We certainly want to make sure GTA Online updates are free and accessible to everyone, so our entire community can experience them together. That still stands today,” he said. “Looking back, at the beginning we were driving GTA Online primarily as a multiplayer experience, whether cooperative or competitive, we felt we needed players to participate and have fun playing together in a shared space.

As time has passed, we’ve realized that much of the experience works better when we provide more potential for individual enjoyment of the game, and that the core experience can be changed and enhanced by playing with others.”