Ex-Rockstar Veteran Obbe Vermeij Says GTA 7 Could Be Cheaper to Make Than GTA 6

With GTA 6’s release on the horizon (12 years after its predecessor), it’s only natural to start speculating about what GTA 7 might look like. Former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij recently shared his thoughts on the series’ future during an appearance on the Kiwi Talkz podcast.

According to Vermeij, the next entry could be significantly cheaper to develop thanks to advances in artificial intelligence. While some tasks will still require human input, much of the work may be automated.

“Say you do a cut scene. All the characters in the cut scene could just be rendered by an AI, including the conversation, if you just describe the scene. That could be your first pass at a cut scene,” Vermeij explained.

Studios will still need artists for high-level creative work, and there will always be bugs to fix, but Vermeij believes a large chunk of development could be replaced by automation.

He also pointed out that the industry is already moving in that direction: modern engines now calculate physics and collisions automatically.

“When I started, programmers were like a third of a typical team and now it’s maybe 10, 15%. And with AI, even more work will be automated.”

Ultimately, Vermeij believes gamers stand to benefit from this shift: “If you can make games cheaper, you can have more niche settings and I think that would be much more interesting for gamers. I don’t think AI will be doing the creative part. You’re still gonna have artists setting the style and the look, and you’re still gonna have writers writing the story. I don’t think AI can do that.”