"Freedom" Is What Made GTA So Successful, Rockstar Co-Founder Dan Houser Says

""I think partly," Houser said. "I think it's partly that, partly it put you in this exaggerated cinematic world, and mostly I would argue because it was this sense of freedom. Before that, games were either a shooting game or a driving game or a simulation game, and [GTA] was all three smashed together in a way that felt very free. And just, also, you know, when people talk about the metaverse or this digital world, those were the first games that showed you this idea of living in this fake place.""

""I think all of the team felt, with GTA 3, which was the kind of big breakthrough one in 2001 and we were very much running out of money at the time as a company--I think all of the team thought, 'This could be amazing. There's something really magical about this,'" Houser continued. "It was very raw and put together, but as it began to come together, it had these sort of moments of real innovation and real, kind of--it felt like the future in a way. But then, until it came out, no one outside of our company was very excited by it. That came out just after 9/11 in late 200"

Grand Theft Auto achieved massive success by combining shooting, driving, and simulation into a single, free-form experience that felt cinematic and liberating. The games presented an exaggerated, constructed world that allowed players to enact versions of themselves they could not in real life, foreshadowing ideas of a metaverse or digital living space. GTA III served as the franchise breakthrough in 2001, delivering moments of innovation and a sense of the future despite the company facing financial strain. The title felt raw yet magical as it coalesced, and initial external excitement only emerged after release.

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