Delayed GTA Game Would’ve Been A Series First

While many are waiting for Grand Theft Auto 6‘s launch next year, another title in the series was in the works at Meta. Back in 2021, the company announced that it was working on the VR version of one of the GTA franchise’s most beloved titles, San Andreas, offering a new and unique way to play the title.

Unfortunately, when replying to a comment on the trailer for Skydance’s Behemoth, the official Meta Quest YouTube account stated that while Meta looks forward to working with Rockstar in the future, the VR version of GTA: San Andreas is “on hold indefinitely” while both studios “focus on other projects.” This may disappoint those fans keen to jump back into the series ’90s, Los Angeles-inspired title in a more immersive way, but it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise as Rockstar has previously pulled staff from other projects such as Red Dead Online in an “all hands on deck” approach to getting Grand Theft Auto 6 to meet its Fall 2025 release window.

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GTA: San Andreas VR Would Have Been A Series First

With GTA 5 Experimenting With The Series In First Person

With the Grand Theft Auto series predominantly being third-person, be it in its original 2D top-down format or the 3D titles most are used to, GTA: San Andreas VR certainly would have made for an interesting experience by letting players see Los Santos through the eyes of the game’s protagonist, CJ. Rockstar’s already experimented with a first-person perspective with the PS4, Xbox One, and PC re-release of the latest entry in the series, GTA 5, and this will likely reappear in GTA 6, too, as it was also featured in Rockstar’s most recent title, Red Dead Redemption 2.

However, the option to switch to first-person was not included in the poorly received GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition release back in 2021. This collection included a version of GTA: San Andreas, but was criticized for its many bugs and for being ported from the mobile version of the game, with many expressing their disappointment. Therefore, if done well, the VR title could have washed away the bad taste of the Definitive Edition while providing a new way to play San Andreas that had never been seen before, potentially paving the way for potential VR releases of other games in the series, such as Vice City.

For now, it’s unclear whether Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will ever be released, but the fact that Meta used the phrase “on hold” rather than “canceled” should offer some hope. In the meantime, the VR gaming space certainly looks set to have an impressive year ahead, with the aforementioned Behemoth launching this Fall along with the latest entry in the Arkhamverse, the Meta Quest 3-exclusive Batman: Arkham Shadow, and horror-shooter Alien: Rogue Incursion coming mere months later in December.

Source: Meta Quest/YouTube

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Systems

Platform(s)

PS2 , PS3 , Xbox (Original) , Xbox 360 , PC , macOS , iOS , Android

Released

October 26, 2004

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer

Engine

RenderWare

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs

How Long To Beat

30 Hours

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