GTA V Writer Cites 'Mature Hardware' For Current Gen Release

Honestly, I was a bit perplexed -and said so on my Twitter feed- when we found out GTA V was going to be released at the very end of this generation. If so close to the next round of consoles, containing multiple times the power, why not just wait? And I can think of no better launch title to start things off than a Grand Theft Auto.

But there is a certain comfort that comes with working with a known quantity. And according to GTA writer Dan Houser, this is precisely why we're seeing a new GTA now.

"Rockstar is a content company, not a hardware company," he told Famitsu which was then translated by Polygon. "We use the technology we have to create content, and we try not to let ourselves get beholden to the hardware. The fact that hardware's so mature right now is exactly why we're able to go on to the next level. GTA 4 was our first attempt at a new platform and HD visuals, so the first part of development was seriously difficult. Now we know what the hardware's capable of, so it's become a lot easier to move things along and a lot more fun, too. GTA: San Andreas came out at the peak of the PlayStation 2's cycle, and we put out a really good game thanks to that. All the best games for a console come out at the end of the lifecycle, right? So now's the best timing of all."

I'll admit that I hadn't really thought about it that way as much as I should have, though it makes total sense. My original perception was that a game like GTA would benefit exceptionally well to new hardware, which would allow tremendous advances to things like AI, physics and all the other bells and whistles that go beyond just graphical prowess. But it might have taken even longer for those new hardware bells to be rung, leading to a release more than a few years down the line. And who really wants to wait that long? It's not like this will be the last GTA we see.