Dan Houser says no one outside Rockstar expected GTA 3 to excite, but developers felt it was “something really magical”

Even with the current excitement surrounding GTA VI, Houser reminds us that widespread enthusiasm for the series wasn’t always a given. He says that, prior to launch, the buzz for GTA III was largely internal — it wasn’t until the public saw the finished game that interest exploded.

“Until it came out, nobody outside our company was particularly excited about it,” Houser remarked. “It released shortly after 9/11 in late 2001, and once it launched, people suddenly began to notice.”

The attention for the franchise has only intensified since then, and momentum is expected to grow further as the industry approaches the release window for GTA VI.

Former Rockstar and GTA lead Dan Houser says gaming can “either go somewhere really interesting or somewhere that gets overly focused on making money.”