April 29 marked 17 years since Grand Theft Auto IV first hit the shelves, and to celebrate, former Rockstar developer Obbe Vermeij shared some behind-the-scenes info about how the game was made — and why it felt so different from previous titles.

According to Vermeij, the team wanted GTA IV to be more serious and grounded, which led to some big changes. A lot of fun features from San Andreas were cut, like character upgrades, swimming underwater, planes, stealth, bicycles, and vehicle customization. The focus shifted to telling a story first, with missions built around it — not just random chaos like in older games.

Vermeij also explained that because the PlayStation 3 was hard to work with, the main version was made for Xbox 360 instead. Rockstar ditched the old RenderWare engine and built a new one called RAGE. That engine later powered GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Originally, GTA IV was supposed to come out in October 2007. But in July — just three months before the deadline — the launch was pushed to April 2008. Vermeij hinted that a similar delay might happen with GTA VI, though he said he doesn’t have any insider info.

Main image: steampowered.com

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