Subscription Based GTA “Very Doable, Very Compelling”

Grand Theft Auto, the massively multiplayer version, seems like an inevitability. With downloadable content coming for the Xbox 360 version and a game so stuffed with data that it pushes DVD size limitations, an MMO take on the game with digitally delivered content sounds like the next logical step. Sam Houser, one of the founders of Rockstar Games, agrees, telling EGM/1UP that “a subscription-based Grand Theft Auto-type game…is very, very doable and is a very, very compelling proposition.”

Obviously, there’s a challenge in redefining MMO convention, with (literal) rat killing and pelt gathering an odd fit for a modern day cops and robbers setting.

But it sure sounds like the Housers are into it, with “the combination of what we’re doing with multiplayer and what we’re doing with the [downloadable XB360] episodes is the start of us putting our toes in this water and seeing how our audience…adapts to online.”

Grand Theft Auto V or GTA Online, whatever it may be called, could be a late entry into the game. Other developers are already taking a stab at it, with Realtime Worlds’ APB and SOE’s The Agency already gunning for a modern day subscription based game, without all the wizardry and orc-ery. Can’t say we’re not tempted by the prospect, though.

Motormouth: A GTA Q&A [1UP]