Exactly 20 years ago today, the open-world classic “Grand Theft Auto III” was released: the first part of the series that took the player into a 3D open world and laid the foundation for one of the most successful game series of all time . Since then, gamers have been looking forward to every new part. On the occasion of the anniversary, head of development Aaron Garbut spoke about the future of the series.
While the first two parts of the series were still in 2D and the player had a bird’s eye view of the gangster world, the third part changed that: You controlled the main character Claude from the shoulder perspective and moved him through a for the time (2001 ) impressively lively 3D world.
“GTA III” hit like a bomb back then, is now a cult. To date, the title has sold around 14.5 million times. The current part “GTA V” topped that: developer and publisher Rockstar has sold over 150 million units so far, making the game third of the best-selling games of all time. Only “Minecraft” and “Tetris” have sold more often.
By today’s standards, “GTA III” looks terribly coarse and pixelated, at the beginning of the 2000s it was impressive graphicsPhoto: GTA III, Grand Theft Auto III, Rockstar Games
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So it’s no wonder that players are wondering what the future of the series looks like. There are countless theories, rumors and alleged hints of how things could go on with “GTA” online, and players have been waiting eagerly for a successor for years.
Now Aaron Garbut, head of development and co-studio head at Rockstar North, spoke about how he envisions the future of the series. Since “GTA III” he was involved in the development of all “GTA” parts as well as the “Red Dead Redemption” games.
The true legacy of “GTA III” is yet to come
“I love open world games. And I think there’s so much more to them than what we know today, ”says Garbut. “I know that thanks to the success of all our open world games and the vast team that has so much experience from years of working together, we are in a special position to take them even further. And the best thing is that I am confident that we will succeed. “
Further: “In this respect, I believe that the true legacy of ‘Grand Theft Auto III’ is yet to come. I think we’re making huge strides with each title and I’m looking forward to the next jump. The journey began for us with ‘Grand Theft Auto III’, but we are still only at the beginning. “