Game releases now look very different to what they once did, with day-one patches to iron out bugs at launch now totally commonplace. However, one GTA veteran says this approach "seems more stressful" than it was during the PS2 era, when post-launch patches to fix issues weren't an option at all.
Obbe Vermeij previously served as a technical director at Rockstar Games, accumulating credits on the likes of GTA 3, 4, Vice City, and San Andreas before eventually leaving the company in 2009. Asked by a fan on Twitter if "the PS2 [was] more 'stressful' to ship games for, given that there was no way to patch potential major bugs," Vermeij disagrees, saying that "today's approach seems more stressful to me."
Explaining, he continues: "Approaching the launch date and not knowing whether you can fix everything in the day-one patch seems terrifying. At the end of the day it's just a matter of putting enough time aside for bug fixes."
Today's approach seems more stressful to me.Approaching the launch date and not knowing whether you can fix everything in the day-1 patch seems terrifying.At the end of the day it's just a matter of putting enough time aside for bug fixes.July 1, 2025
It's an interesting perspective, but one that makes sense – it sounds like the difference between meeting a deadline and then being able to completely move on from it, or having it continue to hang over your head. Game launches now seem way more down to the wire, with problems often still present right up to launch that the devs still have to deal with until that fateful release day (and beyond).
Hopefully we aren't going to see any launch day woes with GTA 6, anyway, following its delay to May 26 next year. Rockstar previously apologized that it's arriving later than previously announced, but stated that "we hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve."
