A former Grand Theft Auto developer whose credits include GTA 4, Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA 3, has closed down a website discussing the games’ development processes after being contacted by Rockstar. With the first GTA 6 trailer set to arrive in the near future, and Grand Theft Auto 6 to set build on the superlative open-world pedigree of Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 5, the former Rockstar developer says that continuing the website “isn’t important enough to me to p*** off my former colleagues.”
The GTA 6 release date is coming. The sandbox game sequel is officially confirmed by Rockstar, and we’re due the first Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer in December. With GTA 4 set in Liberty City, and Grand Theft Auto 5 taking us to San Andreas-based Los Santos, it follows that GTA 6 will mark a return to Rockstar’s fictionalized version of Miami, Vice City. Ahead of launch, one former Rockstar developer has shared insights and behind-the-scenes knowledge regarding how the series was made. Now, however, the former GTA dev has chosen to close their website down.
Obbe Vermeij served as technical director on a variety of GTA games, including San Andreas, Vice City, GTA 3, the ‘Stories’ spin offs, Chinatown Wars, and Grand Theft Auto 4. Vermeij also shared details about other Rockstar games in which they were involved, including the terrific 2003 horror game Manhunt, and the elusive, presumably canceled Agent. After posting a series of blog entries regarding the specifics of development across Grand Theft Auto, Vermeij says they will now discontinue their website after being contacted by Rockstar.
“Today I got an email from Rockstar North,” Vermeij writes. “Apparently some of the OGs there are upset by my blog. I genuinely didn’t think anyone would mind me talking about 20 year old games but I was wrong. Something about ruining the Rockstar mystique or something.
“Anyway, this blog isn’t important enough to me to p*** off my former colleagues in Edinburgh so I’m winding it down. I’ll maybe just leave a few articles with anecdotes that don’t affect anyone but me. I would love for Rockstar to open up about development of the trilogy themselves, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon. Maybe I’ll try again in a decade or two.”
A handful of articles remain on Vermeij’s site, outlining general aspects of how some of the former GTA games incorporate cheats, and handle dynamic in-game weather systems. The majority of Vermeij’s writing, which detailed the creation of the various Grand Theft Auto games, has been removed.
PCGamesN has contacted Rockstar Games for comment and will update this story with any further information. Meanwhile, as we approach GTA 6, it seems the developer is killing off the famous Rockstar Social Club.
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