Former Rockstar director says AI cloning could speed up GTA VI PC port

In short: A former Rockstar technical director says AI tools that can copy console games may pressure Rockstar to release an official GTA VI PC version sooner.

What's going on

Obbe Vermeij, a former technical director at Rockstar Games, told Rock Paper Shotgun that Rockstar may face new time pressure to ship a PC version of Grand Theft Auto VI closer to the console release. Vermeij left Rockstar in 2009, so he is not speaking for the company today.

Rockstar has often released big games on consoles first, then brought them to PC months or even years later. This has been true for Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption, among others. Vermeij said the PC and console sides have had an “awkward relationship” for a long time, partly because console versions typically sell more.

Vermeij’s main point is that newer AI-powered reverse engineering tools could make it easier for outsiders to create unofficial PC versions. Reverse engineering means taking a finished game file and trying to rebuild the underlying code, like taking a baked cake and guessing the recipe. Vermeij said doing this for GTA VI would still be hard and might cost tens of thousands of dollars in “tokens” (the paid units used to run many AI systems), and the result likely would not match Rockstar’s quality. Still, he thinks a “good enough” unofficial port could pull some PC players away from an official release.

What to watch

Rockstar has not announced a PC release date for GTA VI. Reports cited by Ars Technica suggest Rockstar is aiming for the first quarter of 2027. If unofficial AI-made ports start appearing, Rockstar could try to shorten the gap to protect sales and control quality.

Source: Arstechnica