GTA veteran says game releases seem "more stressful" now than during the PS2 era, because "not knowing whether you can fix everything in the day-1 patch seems terrifying"

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The era of no day-one patches is long gone now, though

A character walking down the NYC streets in GTA 3
(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

Game releases now look very different to what they once did, with day-one patches to iron out bugs at launch now totally commonplace. However, one GTA veteran says this approach "seems more stressful" than it was during the PS2 era, when post-launch patches to fix issues weren't an option at all.

Obbe Vermeij previously served as a technical director at Rockstar Games, accumulating credits on the likes of GTA 3, 4, Vice City, and San Andreas before eventually leaving the company in 2009. Asked by a fan on Twitter if "the PS2 [was] more 'stressful' to ship games for, given that there was no way to patch potential major bugs," Vermeij disagrees, saying that "today's approach seems more stressful to me."

It's an interesting perspective, but one that makes sense – it sounds like the difference between meeting a deadline and then being able to completely move on from it, or having it continue to hang over your head. Game launches now seem way more down to the wire, with problems often still present right up to launch that the devs still have to deal with until that fateful release day (and beyond).

Hopefully we aren't going to see any launch day woes with GTA 6, anyway, following its delay to May 26 next year. Rockstar previously apologized that it's arriving later than previously announced, but stated that "we hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve."

GTA 3 could have been the debut of GTA Online, according to Rockstar veteran who says online play was planned as early as 2001.

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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