Take Two Interactive, publishers of the phenomenally successful Grand Theft Auto franchise have gone on record stating that if there is customer demand for virtual reality support in their games, it’s ready to provide it.

GTA VR

gta-v-ps3xbox360-version-vs-ps4-version-graphics-c_bmzvGrand Theft Auto V, the latest installment in one of the most successful games franchises of all time, was released on next-gen consoles this week and brought with it a raft of visual upgrades and improvements. Alongside that, details of the ‘soon-to-be-released’ PC version emerged, indicating that the game will offer settings important to adapting it for virtual reality. Specifically, field of view (FOV) sliders will be on offer, something vital for tweaking any games for the wide FOV requirements of VR Headsets such as the Oculus Rift. Addtionally, GTAV also includes the ability to play the game almost entirely from the first person perspective. These new features were seized upon by some in the VR community as clear indications of Rockstar Games’ (developer of GTA) intentions for virtual reality support at some point in the future.

GTAV-PS3-vs-PS4-GIF-3Take Two have now stated publicly that, although there are no current plans to adapt GTAV for virtual reality, they’re more than open to the idea should it be something customers really want. Speaking to Bloomberg in an interview published yesterday, Chairman of Take Two Interactive Strauss Zelnick in response to the question of whether the gaming industry is ready for VR yet, responded “Not yet”.  “Part of it is we need to see how the headsets roll out and how we can best deliver an experience. We are concerned that you’ll play our games for a long period of time — we don’t want people getting nauseated. And also, having had the experience, I’m not sure how long you want an immersive headset on your head.”

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ad3505333cbb6880950b769966471e6254b66e46.jpg__620x348_q85_crop_upscaleHowever, Zelnick then went on to say that if consumer interest in VR is strong enough, that Take Two will be there ready to facilitate “We’ll find out. I will say this. If that’s what consumers want, we’ll be first in line to give it to them.”

It’s now accepted that games not designed and built around VR from the ground up do not offer the best experiences for gamers. In fact, there’s an argument that retro-fitting VR support to such a popular franchise as GTA is unwise, given that the experience is likely to be sub par when compared with made-for-VR titles. The last thing VR needs whilst it scrambles for public acceptance is a wave of first-time VR users having bad experiences. So perhaps Take Two’s cautious approach is indeed a wise one.

However, given GTA’s long development cycle, it’s entirely possible that once the inevitable GTA VI rolls around, the gaming world will be ready for VR proper, encouraging developer Rockstar to build in such support from the start. We can but hope.

What the imminent PC release and it’s new enhancements do open up however is the possibility of VR Injection drivers such as vorpX and Vireio Perception to ‘graft’ support for Oculus Rift headsets onto the game. We’ll have to wait and see if this is something that’s technically possible.

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • Kennyancat

    Will have modded support for the Oculus on the first week it comes out on pc.

  • Jacob Pederson

    Judging by the framerate of GTIV on PC (not to mention the no-strafe control scheme), I’m not holding my breath.

  • I can break these cuffs

    Interesting that they’re doing vr support since there is a chance that they won’t make profit over it while they complained about porting to pc thinking that it won’t be profitable.

  • Mihai Ogasanu

    I will definitely buy the game for VR the minute it comes out for HTC VIVE

  • Chandoc PlaGo

    where do I fill in my CC info? doom 3 just proved many games can be ported to VR, sure you’ll feel dizzy after a while but just work on your VR legs! people puke all the time on boats that doesn’t keep them from building them does it? I want GTA VR and HL2 VR now pleaseeeeeeee

    • The difference is that Doom is a simple FPS game: in a game engine, you simply change camera with a VR camera and that’s it. GTA has lots of game mechanics that should be ported in VR (e.g. how to drive in VR? how to steal a car? What happens when you go to a pay-and-spray and you’re inside the car?), so the porting is quite complicated. But I hope they’ll do it…

  • Kraufthauser

    What he actually is saying is “Sorry, not gonna happen”. VR is dead in the water. Studio’s are waiting for consumers to buy headsets and consumers are waiting for great VR titles.

    • Karim

      Kind of. But people are buying headsets anyways, even if there are no real games. Good thing is, content will come through indie developer as well as through businesses. I’m pretty sure a cool 3D building app for architects and engineers is right around the corner. You can even see IKEA using VR for their customers, so yeah, it’ll come. It just takes some time for GPUs to catch up.

      • Crate – A – Day

        I agree. I bought a Vive for the silly fun games since I can’t get into normal PC games anymore. I have 20+ hours in RecRoom so far and put in 30 minutes a night after work. Funny that my most played game so far is a freebie.

    • Doctor Bambi

      I don’t think GTA will ever make a full transition to VR based on many factors, but the VR industry being “dead” is not one of them. Mainly because the VR industry is about as far from dead as it could possibly be; VR is in it’s infancy.

      Oculus and many others have taken the courageous plunge and brought some fantastic content to market that not only works on headsets, but takes advantage of the power of VR. We’re already hearing from developers that their VR titles are bringing in enough revenue now to pay for themselves.

      VR is the next gold rush, but we must go cautiously into the unknown in these early times.

  • towblerone

    They barely care about us PC gamers but all of a sudden are going to work on VR versions of their games? lol I doubt it.

    As a VR enthusiast I’d rather have experiences made from the ground-up for VR and not gaming’s sloppy seconds. VR deserves better.

  • GTA in VR would be a dream!
    In my opinion it would be complicated to port all the game mechanics to VR, so I’m quite skeptical they’ll do it, but I hope it anyway…