Here we slip again: Thanks to the enormous amount of data used to train modern large language models, young developers and AI enthusiasts in search of fame are now “working hard” on previously unthinkable porting projects. Even GTA VI, one of the most anticipated games of recent years, may not be immune to the brute force power of vibe coding chatbots.
Former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij believes a PC port of GTA VI could arrive sooner than expected, as Rockstar and Take-Two may want to get ahead of any attempt to release an unofficial version of the game on the platform.
Vermeij, who left the studio in 2009 and admits he doesn’t know what Rockstar is thinking, said generative AI has really changed the world and it’s now a big question for developers and publishers how to prevent their games from being duplicated by chatbots.
In a recent interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Vermeij explained that most publishers prefer to launch on all available platforms at the same time because it means only paying for one marketing campaign. Grand Theft Auto has always lived by its own rules, so Rockstar is sticking with consoles for now. However, AI-powered “decompressions” fundamentally jeopardize any efforts to keep major releases like GTA VI off the PC.
Bringing Rockstar’s crime epic to computers would cost a lot of AI tokens and would likely be a subpar effort compared to a properly developed port. And yet Vermeij believes people will still try to create a recompiled version. It would take a long time and probably cost tens of thousands of dollars in tokens, but he expects someone to try it once the game is out.
According to Vermeij, the threat of a Vibe-encoded PC version of GTA VI could prompt Rockstar to speed up its porting efforts. Thanks to GenAI’s efficiency at brute-force breaking existing codebases, an official PC version could be a little closer than expected. In any case, Rockstar will likely do everything it can to limit the impact on the game’s potential sales on the platform.
For Vermeij, generative AI is an existential concern for game developers, whether they are major labels or small indie studios like his own GabberGames, which are even more vulnerable.
Also read: From Halo to Adobe Clones: Why AI is suddenly cracking old software
A giant like Take-Two can deploy its lawyers on any decompression measure, and a big game can be too much for the AI to handle well, but Vermeij admits he doesn’t see how anyone could completely protect themselves from it. In his words, it is a brave new world and the next few years will show how it evolves.
Vermeij also recalled his time at Rockstar in the early GTA days. He didn’t work on GTA 1 and 2, but sat right next to the GTA 1 team. Back then the PC was the focus, the PlayStation version was created by an external studio in Dundee, and yet the PlayStation versions sold much better than the PC versions. For GTA 3, Rockstar reversed its priorities and created the console version first.
