Grand Theft Auto V might be getting the VR treatment

[Cal Jeffrey]

Rumor mill: A big-name AAA video game title may be making its way to the VR platform. A studio that works closely with Rockstar is looking for talent to work on an "open-world AAA VR project." It does not mention what that project is, but rumors suggest it might be a VR port of GTA V.

Australian developer Video Games Deluxe (VGD) has posted several job listings on LinkedIn as it gears up to work on what it says will be a "AAA" virtual reality game.

"Looking for experienced programmers to help us develop our next AAA Virtual Reality Open World game," the listing reads.

It's looking for a senior game play programmer, game designer, and seniior animator. The Motley Fool speculates that the project might be Grand Theft Auto V.

The rumor that the project might be GTA V stems from the fact that VGD has worked exclusively with Rockstar Games since 2013. It is the same company behind the spinoff VR title LA Noire: The VR Case Files. Rockstar has a full library of open-world titles going all the way back to Grand Theft Auto 3. So, why GTA V?

For starters, VGD's first Rockstar VR port was the aforementioned truncated LA Noire VR port, so the logical step would be the next open-world game Rockstar produced, which would be Grand Theft Auto V. Skipping up to Red Dead Redemption 2 seems overly ambitious. Older games are easier to port to VR since they tend to be less hardware intensive.

It is not likely to be the first Red Dead game either. The senior animator position description mentions the new hire will be specifically "working with characters, vehicles, weapons, and general props [emphasis mine]." Animating vehicles pretty well narrows it to either LA Noire or one of the GTA games. Grand Theft Auto V is now seven years old and was originally released on the PlayStation 3. It is right in the sweet spot for a VR makeover.

The other possibility is Video Games Deluxe is working on an LA Noire follow-up, which would make sense considering VR Case Files is rather short. However, it seems more likely that Case Files was a testbed for VGD to see what it could do with an open world Rockstar title in virual reality—an experiment to gauge the logistics of doing something more ambitious. A full game port akin to Borderlands 2 VR seems more appropriate, but this is just my own musing.

That said, bringing Grand Theft Auto V to virtual reality would be a step in the right direction for Rockstar and VR in general. Having a genuine port to the platform would give the game maker a VR foundation on which to build new VR IPs moving forward.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/86111-grand-theft-auto-v-might-getting-vr-treatment.html

 

[Evernessince]

Oh god, imagine skydiving or riding your car down a mountain in VR.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

And how is this gonna work when you pick up a "streetwalker" ?

 

[Evernessince]

And how is this gonna work when you pick up a "streetwalker" ?

The same as if you were in 1st person mode in the current version of GTAV I'd assume. That is to say, they don't actually have genitals into the game so it's essentially just air thumping.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

Oh god, imagine skydiving or riding your car down a mountain in VR.

What I find great about a possible GTAV VR is the variety of things you can do that would translate well to the VR experience. Borderlands 2 VR for instance is just runnin' and gunnin'. GTA, as you mention has got skydiving or racing down a mountain in your car. Flying jets and helicopters too. There are also motorcycles and bicycles too that would be fun to ride. And somewhat related to @QuantumPhysics point, think about the lap dance minigame in the strip club where you have to be careful and watch out for the bouncer—a whole different control mechanic there when done in VR.

Then there is the whole Sandbox thing. One of the great things I like about No Man's Sky VR is you can spend hours just screwing around without worrying about completing missions. GTA is the same. Just take a stroll down the street if you want. Go to the beach. Snipe people for the rooftops. Whatever. You aren't under any pressure to do anything specific, which lets you play in VR for as long or as little as you want during a game session.

There is a lot of potential with this title and it's all piled on top of the standard runnin' and gunnin'.

 

[Nobina]

The same as if you were in 1st person mode in the current version of GTAV I'd assume. That is to say, they don't actually have genitals into the game so it's essentially just air thumping.

How weird that must be, you're just sitting there with VR on while the girl is bouncing on your digital penis and you're awkwardly waiting for it to finish.

 

[AMDIA]

There is already 2 mods that allow you to play GTAV in VR . One uses another application called VORPX to take advantage of playing in VR but another mod that came out in 2019 doesn't need anything else other than the base game and a VR HMD if you have one.
So you can jump in now already if you can't wait for the official release and to be honest the official release doesn't mean it's going to be a quality VR experience. Such was the case for their previous LA NOIRE game that was already a very poorly optimised game when it first arrived in traditional pancake 2D mode.