Rockstar Veteran Reveals Difference in Developer Stress Between Past and Present

Obbe Vermeil, technical director of the classic GTA trilogy, shared a comparison of the working conditions of game developers in different eras. According to him, the modern approach to releases creates significantly more stress than the traditional model of releasing finished products. Previously, teams clearly understood the moment of completion of work - when the game hit the shelves of stores.

Now the situation has changed dramatically - even after the official release, developers are faced with an endless stream of errors, the need to prioritize fixes and constant pressure to release patches. Vermeil notes that the process of supporting modern games can stretch out for years, creating permanent tension in teams.



The industry veteran also recalled an interesting fact from the development of the original GTA - the Rockstar team abandoned the idea of ​​​​fining players for violating traffic rules, realizing that this would make the gameplay less exciting. This example demonstrates a fundamentally different approach to creating games in the past, when decisions were made based on gaming experience, and not the need for constant post-release fixes.