AI's Impact on Game Development: Former Rockstar Dev Predicts Lower Costs for GTA 7

Grand Theft Auto 7 should be cheaper to make than GTA 6 thanks to AI

Rockstar's budget for Grand Theft Auto 6 is reportedly as high as $2 billion, but Grand Theft Auto 7 should cost radically less thanks to AI. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you. Grand Theft Auto 6 reportedly has a budget that is north of $2 billion, but Rockstar's next-gen Grand Theft Auto 7 should be cheaper to make thanks to AI reducing the man-hours required during development. In a new interview with former Rockstar Games Technical Lead Obbe Vermeij on KIWI TALKS, who worked on many of the iconic entries in the GTA franchise including Vice City and San Andreas, who talked about the future of the franchise past GTA 6. He said that GTA 7 should be cheaper to make than GTA 6 because much of the development work will be replaced with AI, with things like working on the maps and cutscenes. No more manual labor and important man-hours would be spent on these tasks, so it's expected that Grand Theft Auto 7 should be cheaper to produce than Grand Theft Auto 6. We shouldn't expect to see GTA 7 on the market for many years to come, but Take-Two has already mentioned GTA 7... so we know it's coming, it's absolutely inevitable no matter how long it takes. We also posted a story not too long ago showing what Grand Theft Auto 7 could look like on the next-gen PlayStation 7 console using AI-powered graphics, and now we've got this story about an AI-powered GTA 7. You can check out that story below. The future of the gaming industry and game developers is in question with the rise of AI, as companies have been and will continue to slice and dice jobs, replacing them with AI. Microsoft just did this, with thousands of jobs gone and game in development shelved, even after spending close to $100 billion acquiring Activision-Blizzard. Rockstar is going to make tens of billions of dollars over years on Grand Theft Auto 6, and yet it's inevitable that we'll see the developer culling jobs and replacing them with AI. I don't think we'll see GTA 7 quicker because of it -- as the developer and publisher Take-Two will want to milk GTA 6 for at least 10 years -- but I bet AI is the most talked about topic at the studio right now. We recently heard that GTA 6 will be changing the industry itself, with Rockstar's new "Project ROME" turning GTA 6 into the "next big metaverse" where ROME (the Rockstar Online Modding Engine) will see GTA 6 featuring custom experiences by top creators and regular updates including new missions and even cities. One of the things that I'm personally looking forward to in GTA 6 is that everything in the game has a physical place, with things like roads getting destroyed during big battles with rockets. Physical destruction is something I've loved in games since the days of Red Faction in the 90s on PC, so I can't want to see just how destructible the world is in GTA 6. Grand Theft Auto 6 will be dropping onto the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles on May 26, 2026.

GTA 6 will "remain" the most expensive game ever, former Rockstar dev predicts, because GTA 7 will see the "bulk of the work" replaced by AI

We don't know exactly how much Rockstar Games is spending to make GTA 6, but it's safe to say the upcoming open world might be the most expensive game of all time, considering the thousands of developers attached to it and how long it's been in production. Although, one former lead on the series reckons future game budgets won't come close because AI will probably make everything less costly to produce. Obbe Vermeij, the former technical lead on multiple Grand Theft Autos, told Kiwi Talkz he thinks the "bulk of the work [on games] is probably going to be replaced" in the near future. He even reckons that a first pass for cutscenes can be pretty much AI-generated, since characters could apparently be "rendered by AI, including the conversation." Since Rockstar is automating all this work and presumably laying off talented humans in this (hopefully, please) hypothetical future, Vermeij says his "prediction is that GTA 7 will be cheaper to make than GTA 6," but "we'll have to wait 15 years to see if I'm right or not." "It will remain that way," he added. "I think there's not gonna be a bigger game than GTA 6 because a lot of that stuff is going to be taken over by AI whether we want it or not. So, I think these banks of artists that are just building massive maps or massive cutscenes, I think some of that will be taken over by AI in the next, you know, five years or so." Vermeij is hopeful that people won't necessarily lose their jobs - AI will just help games get made faster, but, I mean, just look at the state of things. For what it's worth, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick isn't comically drooling over AI as much as some other video game execs, as he recently said GTA 6's "creative genius is human" and allegedly believes in paying people for their work even if it's replicated by AI after. We'll see how things go.

Grand Theft Auto VI May Remain the Most Expensive Entry, as Future Titles Could Be Cheaper to Develop Thanks to AI

Grand Theft Auto VI will likely remain the most expensive entry in the series even after its sequel is released, as a former Rockstar Games employee expects the development of the seventh entry to be cheaper. Speaking on the KIWI TALKS show, former Rockstar Games Technical Lead Obbe Vermeij, who worked on many iconic entries in the series like Vice City and San Andreas, discussed the future of the franchise past the sixth entry in the series launching next year, saying that there's likely not going to be a more expensive entry in the series than Grand Theft Auto VI because a lot of the development work is going to be taken over by AI, such as the work for maps and cutscenes. As such, no longer needing manual labor for these tasks, it is expected that Grand Theft Auto 7 will be cheaper to make than its predecessor, painting once again a grim picture for anyone working in the gaming industry. It will take a while, however, to see if Vermeij's prediction will be true, as we are unlikely to see Grand Theft Auto 7 for a very long time. Talking about Grand Theft Auto 7 definitely seems a bit premature, considering Grand Theft Auto VI still has to come out. The highly anticipated new entry in the series was supposed to launch before the end of the year, but back in May, Rockstar Games confirmed the game would need more time and will launch in May 2026. Despite the delay, the excitement surrounding the game continues to be high, and some of its features promise to change not only open-world games but also entertainment as a whole, such as the rumored option for artists to upload their music directly into the game. Grand Theft Auto VI launches on May 26, 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

Former Rockstar lead: "GTA 7 will be cheaper to make than GTA 6"

Grand Theft Auto V was released in 2013, and we have been waiting for a sequel for twelve years. Grand Theft Auto VI will arrive in May 2026, thirteen years after its predecessor, and is expected to be by far the most expensive game ever made. We hardly dare to think about Grand Theft Auto VII, and if it follows the same pattern, it will skip the entire PlayStation 6/Xbox Next generation and be released first on PlayStation 7 and Xbox Nextnext. But maybe we won't have to wait that long. With AI, costs and work are expected to be streamlined. Rockstar Games' former technical lead Obbe Vermeij has several Grand Theft Auto titles under his belt, and in an interview with Kiwi Talks (thanks Insider Gaming), he says that "the bulk of the work is probably going to be replaced" with AI technology. He goes on to add that "GTA 7 will be cheaper to make than GTA 6", although he admits that it will be a long time before we see if he is right. Although many are critical of the idea that games will be developed by AI in the future and fear that the final human touch and creativity will suffer, Vermeij says there is no doubt about where the industry and Rockstar are headed: "I think there's not gonna be a bigger game than GTA 6 because a lot of that stuff is going to be taken over by AI whether we want it or not. So, I think these banks of artists that are just building massive maps or massive cutscenes, I think some of that will be taken over by AI in the next, you know, five years or so." So, it seems like game development will be optimized by AI in the future, but do you think it will be just as good if AI takes care of the design of worlds, cutscenes, and other elements?

Former Rockstar Dev Says GTA 6 Will Remain Most Expensive Game Ever Due to AI

The developer also predicted that the shift towards AI will be industry-wide. It's hard to nail down the exact cost of making GTA 6, with reports placing it in the astronomical billion-dollar region. Those rumored figures alone secure its spot as the most expensive game ever made, and it will hold on to that title even after the release of GTA 7, according to an ex-Rockstar developer. The developer in question is Obbe Vermeij, who served as the technical director at Rockstar and worked on several GTA games, including GTA: San Andreas, GTA: Vice City, and GTA 4. During a recent appearance on the Kiwi Talkz podcast, Vermeij offered his two cents on GTA 6's production and laid out his predictions for its eventual follow-up. The developer predicted that "GTA 7 will be cheaper to make than GTA 6" since "a lot of that stuff (development) is going to be taken over by AI whether we want it or not." He added, "So, I think these banks of artists that are just building massive maps or massive cutscenes, I think some of that will be taken over by AI in the next, you know, five years or so." Vermeij also issued a general prediction for the games industry, saying the "bulk of the work (game development) is probably going to be replaced by AI," including the creation of characters and conversations, which could result in some cost savings. Even in this hypothetical AI-driven landscape, Vermeij conceded that "higher-level creative stuff" will be done by artists. He stated, "I don't think AI will be doing the creative part. You're still gonna have artists setting the style and the look, and you're still gonna have writers writing the story. I don't think AI can do that." His quotes come at a perilous time for the games industry, and just days before some sizable layoffs at Xbox, which were reportedly tied to a shift toward AI automation. With that being said, Rockstar is yet to issue any statements about the use of AI in GTA 6 or future titles. During a CNBC interview in February, Take-Two chief Strauss Zelnick stated that "we (Take-Two) believe in protecting and paying human beings, and we believe we ought to pay for their work if it's replicated by AI after their work is done." He also stressed that the "creative genius is human," which might just hint at the company's current plans around AI integration in game development. With GTA 6 spending a few extra months in the oven (thanks to an unceremonious delay), it will be interesting to see just how much the game's development ends up costing. Be sure to leave your best guesses on its cost in the comments below.