GTA Series Veteran Reveals How Rockstar Built Worlds Under Harsh Conditions

Rockstar’s long-running GTA series is famous for its swaggering worlds, but one long-time developer behind several landmark entries has offered a reminder that those worlds were built under surprisingly normal (and at times punishing) conditions. Technical director Obbe Vermeij, who worked on GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA 4 as well as their expansions, described day-to-day production as headphone-heavy, meeting-light, and frequently dominated by bug fixes.

Quick facts

• Obbe Vermeij is a technical director for the GTA series starting with GTA 3 and including GTA 4 and its expansions
• He says most teams worked on headphones for about 8 hours a day across graphics, code, and music, with very few meetings
• Final stages of production, per Vermeij, often involved correcting an ongoing stream of errors
• He recalled “pencils set aside” for two weeks before reaching gold status, during which the team played to locate remaining bugs
• He later tied Rockstar’s growing team sizes to an “absurd” level of detail—good for players, harder on developers
• Rockstar North level designers were shown in a photo Vermeij posted about 2010
• GTA 6 is scheduled for release on November 19 for PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S

Headphones, fewer meetings, and constant bug-fixing

Vermeij’s core point is that the creation of major GTA releases wasn’t an always-on whirlwind of big brainstorms. For GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA 4, he said that the majority of staff in their departments worked with headphones for roughly eight hours each day—covering roles in visuals, programming, and music—while keeping meetings to a minimum.

He also noted that only a small number of people made the most important calls about gameplay and story. As production neared completion, the work shifted toward handling an endless flow of issues that needed to be repaired.

“Pencils set aside” before gold

One of Vermeij’s most specific anecdotes came from the run-up to reaching gold status. He described a period when the team put their “pencils” down for about two weeks before the milestone, then used that window to play the game and hunt for the last remaining problems.

In that same stretch, he said it was the first time he personally played through missions in sequence—allowing him to experience the narrative in order, including some missions he hadn’t seen before.

Vermeij’s post frames this as the kind of work that may sound like ordinary office routine—sometimes even under harsh crunch conditions—yet still produced some of the most popular and recognizable games on the market.

A 2010-era Rockstar North snapshot

To illustrate the working environment he was describing, Vermeij shared a photo he said was taken around 2010. The image highlights level designers at Rockstar North, reinforcing the idea that large-scale game craft can be built through methodical collaboration rather than continuous high-drama meetings.

Players reacted with disbelief, calling the behind-the-scenes details “surreal,” and immediately asked how production might work for the next entry in the series. Many concluded that the situation likely got tougher as development teams expanded and the bar for detail rose even further—an assumption that implies developers may spend more time polishing smaller pieces of a much larger puzzle.

Vermeij leaned into that interpretation, stating that the growth in team size is driven by an extreme level of detail pursued by Rockstar. He said it benefits players, but is less pleasant for developers.

Where it leaves GTA 6

While the discussion is rooted in older GTA development cycles, it also feeds into expectations for what’s coming next. A new “extended look” on Grand Theft Auto VI has been cited as a demonstration that the finished puzzle can still land “incredible” results once all the pieces come together.

Grand Theft Auto VI is set to launch on November 19 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.