Former Rockstar lead says their wild ideas wouldn’t have matched GTA and praises Larian for walking away from Baldur’s Gate 4
Obbe Vermeij, a former technical director at Rockstar North, told GameHub that many of the studio’s once-tempting experiments never made sense next to Grand Theft Auto. Vermeij worked on GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas and GTA 4, and he argues the studio was better off folding odd ideas into GTA than launching standalone projects.
“The reality is if you have a studio that has one mega successful game, it just doesn’t make sense to do any wild changes,” Vermeij said. He referenced abandoned concepts, including a zombie game set on a Scottish island and a James Bond-like title called Agent. “They wouldn’t have been as good as GTA. They would have been a waste of time and a distraction,” he added.
The point isn’t that experimentation was wrong – Vermeij praised developers who turn away from obvious commercial choices. He singled out Larian Studios for choosing to make another Divinity title instead of moving straight to Baldur’s Gate 4. “Good for them. But it’s a bold move. It’s not obvious. It’s very risky. It’s easier to just keep on doing what you’re doing,” he said.
Vermeij’s comments land against a backdrop where Rockstar’s output has largely been GTA and Red Dead Redemption, and where older experiments like LA Noire are often remembered as detours between the big releases. Fan frustration around GTA 6 delays has only sharpened discussion about what the studio should tackle next.
For background on some of Rockstar’s what-if projects, see our look at how Grand Theft Auto Tokyo almost happened.
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Baldur's Gate III
Developed by Larian Studios
An ancient evil has returned to Baldur's Gate, intent on devouring it from the inside out. The fate of Faerun lies in your hands. Alone, you may resist. But together, you can overcome.
- Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS)
- Platforms: Google Stadia, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Mac
- Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative, Split screen
- Release: 2023-08-03
- Publisher: Larian Studios
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Age Rating:
CERO Z / PEGI 18 / CLASS_IND 16 / ESRB M / GRAC 19+ / ACB MA 15+ / USK 18
- IGDB Rating: 96.0/100
