Grand Theft Auto 5 art director Aaron Garbut has revealed that a wealth of ideas were cut from the final game during the development process, but that the ever-developing GTA Online will see many new ideas added to the mix on an ongoing basis.
Speaking with Edge, Garbut recalled that the GTA 5 concept was always evolving and changing from day-one, and that the decision to include three switchable protagonists was always key to the narrative. The mechanic was a “leap of faith,” he said.
He confirmed that content was cut along the way and certain ideas were pushed to the background. However, given GTA Online’s ongoing, malleable development those ideas could see the light of day.
Garbut added, “As a group of people, we’re never short of ideas. There are always things that come up during development that you want to add. Often we do, but the closer you get to release, the less that happens. I don’t feel like the game fell short, but there is undoubtedly a huge volume of plans and ideas that we wanted to do to push it further.”
“What I love about our GTA Online plans is that the game is no longer static,” he added. “We can continue to add these things and evolve. That’s even more exciting these days, where through forums, Reddit, etc, we have a real direct connection to the people playing the game. We can respond to what they are into and what they hate more than ever.
“It’s something that really suits the way we work, the way we’re always trying to adapt the experience and avoid walking blindly down a set path.”
