It's a new year, and the we're all eager for that big announcement for Grand Theft Auto V's story mode that Rockstar has been teasing, not to mention another injection of new content into GTA Online. But Rockstar is patient, leaving us forced to rely on mere whisperings and supposedly leaked files. Case in point, the game's Art Director, Aaron Garbut, recently spoke with Edge about what the future may hold for the game.
Like any project, aspirations start high, and developers want to add in as much as possible. But despite a truly massive budget, things eventually wind up on the cutting room floor, and Garbut confirmed this is what happened with Grand Theft Auto V. "There are always things that come up during development that you want to add. Often we do, but the closer you get to release, the less that happens. I don't feel like the game fell short, but there is undoubtedly a huge volume of plans and ideas that we wanted to do to push it further."
But that doesn't mean those dropped ideas are gone forever. "What I love about our GTA Online plans is that the game is no longer static," said Garbut. "We can continue to add these things and evolve. That's even more exciting these days, where through forums, Reddit, etc, we have a real direct connection to the people playing the game. We can respond to what they are into and what they hate more than ever."
Garbut didn't get into specifics of what was cut, or what could be added, but it's reasonable to think that some of the dropped ideas could be seen in one way or another. But some alleged DLC files may point in a certain direction...
Supposed DLC files have popped up over on the GTAForums, but some notes within are cause for concern. Forum member Slyk6 claims to have come across a file from a modding site that contains specific mission details not part of the original game. If it's legit, it could be simply cut content, or planned future content. Even if it's just cut content, it could still be added in the game at a later point, as Garbut alluded to.
But bits and pieces of the mission descriptions are raising eyebrows and drawing suspicion. For example, Facebook is mentioned specifically in one of the descriptions. It's nit-picky, but there's no Facebook in the game, only the parody LifeInvader. Though, if you really wanted to get argumentative, it's possible that Facebook was tossed in as a simple placeholder, as the descriptions could easily be just notes.
What makes it look quasi-legitimate were more assassination missions that were also found within the file, and mentions of cops and robbers styled missions, something that was discussed as a potential feature. Curiously, there's also other descriptions that would match up with audio files that were brought in with the Beach Bum Update, like clips of Martin Madrazo and Brucie. At that time, another audio file mentioned a smartphone upgrade, and players were treated to just that with the recent Christmas update.
My gut feeling says that the file mentioned in the GTA Forum consists of cut content, not the DLC that players will be seeing. But given Garbut's recent words, it's possible the content could be seen, but not necessarily likely. It's better to wait until something comes through the official Rockstar channel.
In mid-November, a post on the company newswire promised an announcement "soon." We'll keep you posted once that announcement is made.
