Rockstar officially announce GTA V

03
Nov
2011
By Chris | 3rd Nov 2011 at 16:13 GMT in GTA V | 15 Comments

Rockstar have today officially announced that Grand Theft Auto V is in full development. The company released a statement on the newswire which confirms that the game will be set in Los Santos only, not all of San Andreas; it will however include "surrounding hills, countryside and beaches".

The statement also confirms that money will be a major theme of the game, and that GTA V will be the largest and most ambitious GTA to date, re-imagining present day Southern California.

Developed by series creator Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto V heads to the city of Los Santos and surrounding hills, countryside and beaches in the largest and most ambitious game Rockstar has yet created.

A bold new direction in open-world freedom, storytelling, mission-based gameplay and online multiplayer, Grand Theft Auto V focuses on the pursuit of the almighty dollar in a re-imagined, present day Southern California.

Rowie235's photo
Rowie235 3rd November, 2011 @ 16:21 - Permalink

Los Santos only? Well that's disappointing...

Still. Yay!

Jezz Torrent's photo
Jezz Torrent 3rd November, 2011 @ 16:28 - Permalink

yea i was hoping theyd make the entire san andreas, however at least they can focus on making an entire large legit replica of LA rather than a tiny half ass one like in the original SA. I'm sure they'll do one for san fran and las vegas as well. and im so glad to see that it takes place in present day again.

does biggest gta game ever mean the biggest map?

Gaz_14's photo
Gaz_14 3rd November, 2011 @ 16:45 - Permalink

I can't help but think how much L.A. Noire and its map will help them in recreating Los Santos, so I'm sure the map will be giant and maybe (pleassee!) they will have more indoor environments... I mean what good is the almighty dollar if you can't blow it all at the mall? I'm getting amped up just thinking about it....

Ivan's photo
Ivan 3rd November, 2011 @ 16:50 - Permalink

No desert then? Guess I'll have to settle for the countryside....

Still, I wonder what they mean by "most ambitious GTA".

Miles Pedro Prower's photo
Miles Pedro Prower 3rd November, 2011 @ 16:51 - Permalink

does biggest gta game ever mean the biggest map?

Ye, much probly it does. =P

thedownunderkid's photo
thedownunderkid 3rd November, 2011 @ 17:11 - Permalink

yes thank god getting pritty sick of liberty city

Dirty Harry's photo
Dirty Harry 3rd November, 2011 @ 19:39 - Permalink

No desert then? Guess I'll have to settle for the countryside....

Still, I wonder what they mean by "most ambitious GTA".

I reckon that means it'll be more than a mere next gen treatment of SA/ Los Santos. I have no idea what more they could do to step up the game (except for having the entire SA state, but I guess that's is PROBABLY out of the table).

Jezz Torrent's photo
Jezz Torrent 3rd November, 2011 @ 20:05 - Permalink

im kind of pissed they wont have the entire city, but i'll deal with it as long as they eventually recreate san francisco and vegas i'll be happy. i guess due to the size of LA, they couldnt really do all three cities without significantly downsizing each one

Alkali64's photo
Alkali64 3rd November, 2011 @ 21:04 - Permalink

What bothered me about GTA IV was that they said they was going to make a much really accurate replica of New York but in fact it was much much smaller... Admittedly not as small as GTA III's map but you get the idea. Personally, I can't see Vs map being that much bigger than SA's if at all.

Jezz Torrent's photo
Jezz Torrent 4th November, 2011 @ 02:52 - Permalink

well you gotta realize the city of new york is HUGEEEEEEEEE! theres no way theyd be able to fit that big of a city into a video game =/

Red_91's photo
Red_91 5th November, 2011 @ 19:11 - Permalink

I guess I was right to be a little disappointed, this game will just be an upgrade to a more modern and more real Los Santos. If the city is the same size as the whole of San Andreas, I will be happy but something tells me its just going to be the same size as IV.

The trailer did have planes and I am sure I seen a fighter jet in a trailer which does suggest the map will be bigger, so there are positives.

Red_Squirrel_UK's photo
Red_Squirrel_UK 5th November, 2011 @ 19:13 - Permalink

well you gotta realize the city of new york is HUGEEEEEEEEE! theres no way theyd be able to fit that big of a city into a video game =/

That is because its a city.. Most citie's are huge lol

Village>Town>City

Jezz Torrent's photo
Jezz Torrent 5th November, 2011 @ 20:33 - Permalink

most cities are "New York" huge? no lol. no where close. im sure things are different in the UK, but here in america (where the game takes place), the overwhelming majority of cities are small. we only have a few big (land) cities, a lot of our cities are smaller than the entire map of san andreas.

Another thing i thought of is, with gta4, they said they were making an exact replica of NYC. gta games are known to consist of connected islands that open up as the game progresses. if they are planning to make an exact replica of LA, how are they gonna do the "islands" system?

Blur's photo
Blur 5th November, 2011 @ 20:49 - Permalink

Another thing i thought of is, with gta4, they said they were making an exact replica of NYC. gta games are known to consist of connected islands that open up as the game progresses. if they are planning to make an exact replica of LA, how are they gonna do the "islands" system?

That had yet to cross my mind, also I think you are the first person to bring that up on this site.

Well its possible that the Mount Chilliad part of the map will be separated from Los Santos by water, and likewise the desert countryside too. In theory each of these countrysides will have their own medium-size city that will branch out to smaller towns, that will be accessible after the bridges have opened up.

BlackListedB's photo
BlackListedB 12th November, 2011 @ 05:05 - Permalink

I decided to email Rockstar Leeds from their own landing page, where they mention their latest or Current Project is Chinatown Wars for Nintendo DS, asking them if they are working on the PC version of GTA V, or what project for PSVita the studios might be involved in, Don't expect to hear back, but I hope to get a lead up from them!

As for the map, GTA IV LC as NYC is a one off guys, you can pretty much bank on that, you forget about Midnight Club, and LA Noire, so GTA V will not recreate actual maps and locations but take off from where SA started