Rockstar Games released GTA Online in October 2013 as Grand Theft Auto 5’s multiplayer mode. Today it’s one of the company’s most successful ventures, but a recent leak suggests it could originally have been a 2001 project. Design documents for some Grand Theft Auto titles seemingly leaked online on December 25, 2024, reportedly mentioning plans for a multiplayer mode for Grand Theft Auto 3.
According to
” class=”promoted-img” load=”lazy” width=”1440″ height=”220″ alt=”fortnite-promotional-banner” />
Obbe Vermeij, former technical director at Rockstar North, also provided some insight on X after the new GTA leaked on Christmas Day. He said the project had been in the works for a few weeks and Rockstar Vancouver (formerly Barking Dog Studios) had been contacted to explore the design.
Note: Part of this article is based on a leak. Readers are advised to take the information in this document with a grain of salt.
Ex-Rockstar Games developer talks about the leaked GTA Online 2001 project
Obbe Vermeij revealed that he had written a basic implementation of a deathmatch for Grand Theft Auto 3’s canceled multiplayer mode. He also revealed that players would be able to score points by killing each other in it.
The tweet further discussed Barking Dog Studios’ request to explore the design of Grand Theft Auto Online 2001. Although this project was ultimately abandoned, Barking Dog Studios would release Bully in 2006 as Rockstar Vancouver, a beloved title among Rockstar Games fans.
It’s worth noting that Obbe Vermeij talked about Grand Theft Auto 3’s canceled multiplayer before the recent GTA docs leak as well.
In that tweet, Rockstar’s ex-tech director said that while the basic gameplay of the planned Grand Theft Auto 3 multiplayer worked, “there was too much to be done” and it was ultimately canceled. He then stated that they next tried to work on a multiplayer for Grand Theft Auto Vice City, but failed again, and “settled for Coop mode” in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.
The first true online multiplayer experience in the franchise was introduced with 2008’s Grand Theft Auto 4 and was then greatly expanded in GTA 5 with online multiplayer. In fact, it continues to receive new content to this day, the latest example of which at the time of writing is the Agent of Sabotage update.
Also check: GTA Online weekly update continues (December 26, 2024 – January 1, 2025)
Edited by Angad Sharma