In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, Rockstar explained how the brand-new Update for GTA Online - The Cayo Perico Heist - was conceived. Specifically, Tarek Hamad and Scott Butchard (both Directors of Design at Rockstar Games) gave us an insight on several detailed aspects of the Update. Keep reading!
Update Conception & First Ideas
“The challenges involved in that were incredible in the beginning.”
“It was a new space” Butchard explains, talking about the appeal of diving into an area outside of Los Santos. The map, especially the part where the city is located, has been filled in every inch over the years. With the Arena War Update, they starting to add stuff around Maze Bank while with The Diamond Casino & Resort Update they gave us a brand-new space that brought to Los Santos a new life and a new way to enjoy the city itself.
Everything about the Cayo Perico Heist Update started with and around the music, so when they started talking about the idea of adding new music and developing something new around it, they thought that could have potentially been an island.
Details on Development
The Cayo Perico Heist Update has been developed entirely from home and its development started in December 2019. The challenge of such a large-scale Update has been further difficult since Covid-19, forcing to work from remote.
This is something that is definitely great for Rockstar if we think well about it. Developing an entirely new area from home must not have been easy, both in practical terms for the developers but also regarding the difficulties of communication and exchanging of ideas. Once again we have confirmation of how great Rockstar actually is. They set the standard incredibly high which all games have to deal with!
Single Player Aspects
The most appreciated aspect from the community regarding the Update is that it can be played solo (or with friends of course). “It’s something that’s been on our minds for quite some time and the community has been vocal about it”, Butchard says and keeps saying...
“We want to respect teams and players who want to play co-op. But at the same time still allow solo players to still get just as valid an experience out of it. There’s perks to both. If you go in there by yourself, you’re taking 100 per cent of the cut and it’s a lot easier to do stealth and plan when you’re not on comms. With multiple players you can split up and do multiple things at once. You can take more of the secondary objectives, so I could send Tarek off to the control tower to take down air defences while I start looting from the wee cash piles.”
Basically, The Cayo Perico Heist Update has been developed as a SinglePlayer DLC, also considering that all the Preps and Set-Up Missions can be done completely by playing alone and in invite only sessions! This is certainly something that players have appreciated a lot.
The Road Ahead
That perfect blend of solo and multiplayer seems to be Grand Theft Auto's next destination.
Regarding the Single Player aspects of this Update and about what we can expect in the future, Butchard concludes;
“I think you can see that with Online and I think going forward we’re going to inject more of that single-player element in there."
Yes! Looks really like Rockstar has all the intentions of continuing on this path, by expanding their online and shared worlds but with Single Player content inside of them! Also, when Hamad answered the question if Rockstar will continue to give importance to the Storylines, he said: "Absolutely". Whatever awaits us for the inevitable sixth entry in the iconic series, we can now be confident that we will enjoy more great stories as only Rockstar Games can come up with!
What are your thoughts? Are you enjoying the new update? What do you think is the direction Rockstar will take for the next GTA game? Let us know on our Social Media accounts; Twitter - Instagram - Facebook.
