The former technical director of Rockstar North, Obbe Vermey, expressed an extremely disappointing forecast: GTA 7 is unlikely to leave the United States, and its release may take place only in 2040. While the industry is frozen in anticipation of GTA VI, which will be released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X on November 19, 2026, the studio veteran lands fans with the harsh reality of AAA development.
Forget about London or Paris — Rockstar Games won’t take any chances. In an interview with GamesHub, Vermey, the man who stood at the origins of RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine), explained why returning the series to Europe is technically and economically impractical. Now the production cycle of one part has stretched for 12 years. It’s too long for questionable experiments with the setting.
Why won’t GTA 7 have new locations and countries?
The developers, apparently, are stuck in a “loop” of five American megacities. New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas — that’s our route for decades to come. Accept it. However, Obbe is sure that technology is changing so rapidly that returning to the conditional Vice City in the upcoming GTA VI will feel like a completely new experience. No one will abandon the game because of the old location – the RAGE engine will make the picture and gameplay unrecognizable.
Obbe Vermeja’s main points about the future of the series:
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Setting: Rockstar will continue to rotate familiar US cities — a return to New York or Las Vegas is almost inevitable.
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Timeline: 12 years now pass between parts, which kills the opportunity to release “experimental” spin-offs.
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Technology: Deep modernization of the engine is more important than changing the country — a visual leap eliminates the effect of deja vu.
Obbe Vermei knows the inner kitchen like no one else. He has been working at Rockstar North since the studio was called DMA Design (from 1995 to 2009). He was a key figure in the creation of RAGE, the toolkit on which all the company’s hits are based, starting with Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (2006). His predictions are not just fortune—telling on coffee grounds, but the sober calculation of an insider who understands the scale of the production hell of modern blockbusters.
By the way, it will take a long time to confirm his words. If GTA VI really gets to release on November 19, 2026, then full-fledged news about GTA 7 will appear at best in the mid-thirties. Therefore, the series has finally turned into a “one-generation game”. At least in terms of the output frequency.
