Making a game like GTA, such as Grand Theft Auto V and its predecessors, is no easy feat, especially as the games have become more complex over the years. Huge teams are required to make key components that make GTA what it is. Crucial components that make GTA V instantly recognizable include a sandbox open world, a criminal career progression system, a tiered wanted system, vehicle use and variety, satirical commentary, ragdoll physics, and open-ended quest design.
Whether making the next GTA 5 in Unity, Unreal Engine, or their own engine, teams must expect huge costs. Creating a Grand Theft Auto game is expensive, so the team must be prepared to secure a substantial budget to cover those costs, especially as the scope of the game begins to increase.
With how beloved the Grand Theft Auto franchise is, and how long it takes between new releases, the player base is hungry for more GTA-like content. For a studio that is able to take on the challenge of making a game like GTA, read on to learn how to create a detailed game design document, assemble a large and skilled team, secure a substantial budget, build an open world, implement player inputs via a player controller and physics, develop AI for pedestrians and NPCs, create a mission and quest system, integrate audio, and optimize performance by using LODs.
1. Create a detailed Game Design Document (GDD)
Create a detailed game design document by determining the game’s vision and writing a description of the world and its sandbox nature, its core gameplay systems, player character progression system, AI systems, and the narrative with the main cast of characters to make a game like GTA. A game design document helps the game’s overall design remain focused and ensures everyone on the team is aware of any changes made through the game’s development.
Determine the game’s vision to create a detailed game design document that covers the genre, scope, platform and target audience. The game’s vision is a one-page summary that describes what the game offers to players, investors, and publishers, and what makes it a unique experience. For a game similar to GTA, the game vision section must include elements such as the genre being an open-world action crime sandbox, targeting an adult audience, and the aspects that distinguish it from Grand Theft Auto.
Describe the game’s world and its sandbox nature to detail the type of environment in the game design document that players are going to experience. The game’s world must describe elements such as the city’s size, the different districts that make up the city and what makes them unique from each other, as well as unique landmarks each district has and the different traversal methods within the world.
Include the core gameplay systems that are similar to those in Grand Theft Auto in the GDD, such as combat, skills and skill advancement, and driving. Combat plays a major role in GTA games, but the system is always robust and sandbox-oriented, allowing players to handle combat on their terms. Skills and skill advancement are important gameplay systems to include in any GDD; for a GTA-like game, be sure to address how crime and police intervention affect skills and character growth. Driving is at the heart of GTA’s gameplay, so similar games must include expansive driving mechanics for different types of vehicles that allow players to cause chaos and complete objectives.
Determine how the player character progresses in a game similar to Grand Theft Auto, then include it in the game design document. Player character progression describes the different ways that the player’s character is able to grow stronger over time. In Grand Theft Auto, the player progresses by advancing their skills, taking on jobs to earn money and purchase better vehicles and weapons, and by advancing their businesses.
Describe the different AI systems in the game design document to make a game similar to Grand Theft Auto, such as having traffic AI, unique NPCs, and police AI. AI systems refer to the characters that the player doesn’t possess in the world, and how they interact with the player and game world. There are several different types of AI systems in the Grand Theft Auto series, with traffic and police AI taking precedent.
Consider the narrative of the game that is similar to Grand Theft Auto and write down its premise and theme, plus the major characters involved with the story, on the game design document. The narrative is the story that the players find themselves a part of, and for a game that is similar to Grand Theft Auto, a few key themes must be present. The story must revolve around the crime underworld and focus on providing plenty of action sequences. It must have memorable characters, either as the player’s character, or as unique NPCs that are a major part of the story, too.
2. Assemble a large and skilled team
Assemble a large and skilled team to handle the different tasks of making a game like GTA, such as game designers, artists, and game programmers. A large team ensures that the game is made faster, but not every team has the budget to support a large studio. Some studios must balance skilled talent, budget, and scope to finish a game on schedule without going under.
Hire a variety of game designers skilled in gameplay, systems, world and level design, and narrative design. Designers are the ideators and creatives behind games, and to make a game similar to Grand Theft Auto, the team must have designers who are particularly skilled in the core elements that make GTA so beloved. Below is a list of game designer roles that a studio must assemble and what those roles encompass.
- Gameplay Designer: Defines how players interact with the world and how the world interacts with the player.
- Systems Designer: Designs abstract systems, such as the world’s economy, how the player’s character and world progresses, any crafting or looting systems, and how the difficulty of the game scales.
- Level/World Designer: Defines the playable space that a player is able to navigate, as well as more detailed elements, such as spawn areas, routes, and cover areas. A world designer additionally handles the lore behind the game’s world and its levels.
- Narrative Designer: The narrative designer creates the story of the game, its side missions, and any other lore or environmental storytelling objects and information the player discovers.
Consider a 3D artist joining a skilled team to make a game similar to GTA. Grand Theft Auto focuses on a realistic art style, pushing even into photorealism. To match this type of art style, a game similar to GTA must hire artists that have a photorealism or realistic art skill set. The following list is some of the artists that a studio must include for its skilled team.
- Environment Artist: An environment artist handles art related to the world or level, such as buildings, interiors, cars, props, lighting, vegetation, and basically anything else that fits inside a level or blocks it out.
- Character Artist and Animator: A character artist and animator refers to an artist that handles character models, character portraits, and the gear or clothes that they wear. Character artists handle textures for both playable characters and NPCs. An artist that is able to animate characters is an especially skilled team member. A character animator handles all the animation scripting for player characters and NPCs.
- UI Artist: A UI artist creates the menus, mini-maps, and other user interfaces that help feed information to players. Grand Theft Auto uses a specific type of font and style to make its UI scannable and edgy, which a studio wanting to make a game similar to GTA must emulate.
Hire game programmers and developers to handle the coding of the game to make a game similar to Grand Theft Auto. While designers handle the ideation and creative process of a game, and artists create the visual elements, game programmers and developers make the game functional by writing code. A game similar to Grand Theft Auto needs a few different types of specialized game programmers, such as those in the following list.
- Game Programmer: A general game programmer implements the game’s gameplay features. They code elements such as player controllers, mechanics, abilities, and saving/loading systems.
- AI Behavior Programmer: An AI behavior programmer specializes in coding AI behavior for AI systems, such as how the police respond to player actions in Grand Theft Auto.
- Backend Developer: A backend developer is useful to have when the game includes an online element, such as Grand Theft Auto V Online.
3. Secure a substantial budget
Secure a substantial budget to cover making a game like GTA and its associated costs, such as a long development time, large teams, content volume, and marketing by making a deal with a publisher or finding investors. Back in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V was the most expensive game ever made at $265 million, with Grand Theft Auto VI reaching even higher production costs. Studios wanting to make a game similar to GTA must be ready to take on huge costs.
A long development time adds to the cost of making a game similar to Grand Theft Auto, requiring a studio to secure a large budget. Games similar to GTA take a long time to make, simply because of their scope and the amount of content involved. The longer a game takes to make, the more costs the studio faces, such as office rental space, the cost of employment, and other costs associated with working in an office space.
Large teams affect a game’s budget, so when making a game similar to Grand Theft Auto, the studio must be ready to have a large budget to keep everyone employed. Grand Theft Auto requires a lot of work and a huge team to put together in a reasonable amount of time. However, the more people on the team, the more expensive the costs.
A large open world such as Grand Theft Auto’s requires a lot of content to avoid feeling empty, but adding content adds to the cost of making the game, meaning that studios must plan for a large budget to handle the cost. The more content that a game similar to Grand Theft Auto wants to have, the more time and resources it takes to implement it. Content expands to any online element of the game, too, with teams looking to face more costs to keep players engaged from season to season.
Rockstar Games has a sizable budget to market its Grand Theft Auto games, so a game similar to GTA must secure a large budget to compete. Without a strong marketing budget, the studio won’t have as big of a reach. When there isn’t enough buzz about the game, it impacts how many players hear about the game and give it a try. Increasing the budget for marketing adds cost, but it means there are more eyes on the game.
Acquire a secure budget through publisher deals and investors to make a game similar to Grand Theft Auto. Pitching to mid or large publishers enables the team to secure a large budget. Showing the publisher the detailed game design document and monetization plan helps the publisher understand what the game is about and the amount of profit the game is expected to earn. Publishers typically take IP or revenue in return for funding. Investors provide another method for securing a budget. Game studios are able to present their game as a product to private investors and funds, which they’re able to add to their portfolio, in return for funding the game.
4. Build an open world
Build an open world by designing the city and how it supports the core gameplay loop, plan the map and its districts, populate the open-world with POIs, missions, and activities, and include traffic, pedestrians, and police systems to fill the world to make a game like GTA. One of the defining features of a Grand Theft Auto game is its open world. Players expect an open world that feels alive and immersive, allowing them to engage in all sorts of chaotic antics.
Design the city to support core gameplay elements to build an open world similar to those in the Grand Theft Auto series. The world in Grand Theft Auto is a city that feels familiar to a real city in the United States, yet the city is unique with its own history and lore. When designing the city, consider the different regions, such as a dense urban center, industrial zones, and suburbs, and how they support the main gameplay activities in the game. Narrow streets in the downtown section of the city makes chases and races more challenging, for example.
Divide the map into key districts that feel unique and have their own identities to build an open world game similar to Grand Theft Auto. Driving through a copy-pasted neighborhood breaks immersion, so to avoid this, GTA breaks its city into specific districts. A downtown area filled with nightlife activities or the slums must each feel distinctive from each other and offer missions or activities that make sense for those types of areas. Including notable landmarks further helps make each district distinct from each other while providing the player with a memorable navigational marker.
Populate the open world in the game with points of interest to make it similar to Grand Theft Auto by having the game feel immersive. Points of interest must intrigue the player besides just being used as a means to build the city or to create blockouts. Shops, garages, safehouses, and other points of interest provide players with opportunities to interact with the game, such as shopping for new weapons, upgrading their vehicles, or staging a crime. Dynamic events coincide well with points of interest, and they make these areas feel more immersive, as players are able to watch as NPCs interact with each other or a random event occurs just as the player passes by a gas station, for example.
Include traffic to fill the open world with life, making it more similar to Grand Theft Auto due to feeling as though the world is a living and active place. Traffic includes everything from background pedestrian NPCs to named NPCs that deliver important narrative information. Being able to walk along the sidewalks of the city in a crowd aids immersion, and it’s a hallmark feature of the later GTA games. The police is another traffic system that must be included, as they react to players as they navigate the open world. They offer opportunities for emergent gameplay as players decide how to handle officers, using the open world to their advantage, such as driving off-road, cutting across the street, or losing the police in a high-speed chase along a highway.
5. Implement a player controller and physics
Implement a player controller and physics that feel similar to GTA, such as standard inputs or interactions and ragdoll physics. A player controller typically handles all the inputs, meaning that when a player presses a button, the logic exists on the player controller, and it interprets the input into an action that a player is trying to perform. Physics refers to how gravity acts on the world, and the results of that relationship. For a game like Grand Theft Auto, interactions and physics are mostly based in realism, save for ragdoll animations.
Design inputs and interactions that are used in Grand Theft Auto to make a similar game feel familiar to the player. Inputs refer to the button or keyboard presses the player must perform to complete a certain interaction. When a player presses the “X” button on a PlayStation controller, the player jumps, for example. To make a game similar to Grand Theft Auto, use the same inputs to complete the same interactions. The same button press to shoot a gun in GTA must be used to ensure players feel as though the interaction is reminiscent of GTA.
Set the gravity to the game world to simulate realistic physics to make a game similar to Grand Theft Auto by using realistic physics. Grand Theft Auto has its fantasy elements, with its physics being realistic, although not exactly accurate. In particular, GTA is well known for its ragdoll physics when a player character or NPC dies. Player characters are launched across the sky at times after getting hit hard enough. To make a game similar to Grand Theft Auto, the team must have similar physics, allowing for some hilarious moments to occur whenever the player perishes. Physics for vehicles, however, must retain accurate reactions based in reality.
Implement accurate and realistic physics for vehicles to ensure players have complete control over vehicle handling to make a game similar to Grand Theft Auto. While ragdoll physics work well for NPCs and the player, vehicles must retain realistic physics as a key gameplay mechanic of the game. Vehicles must be reliable, since players use them to complete missions and traverse the world. While ragdoll physics for NPCs that collide with a vehicle makes sense, a game similar to GTA mustn’t have vehicles that suddenly launch themselves into the air on the slightest collision. At least not usually.
6. Develop AI for pedestrians and NPCs
Develop AI for pedestrians and NPCs for ambient traffic, reactions to player and world events, while adding more complex AI behavior for important NPCs, such as gang members, police, or mission givers to make a game like GTA. AI in Grand Theft Auto varies from simplistic behavior to complex, with simplistic AI covering pedestrians walking along the road and more complex behavior covering police responses to the player. AI is essential to any game that wants to be similar to GTA since half the fun of the game is messing with random NPCs.
Design simplistic AI to handle ambient traffic NPCs. Ambient traffic NPCs refer to the individuals who walk along roads, cross streets, and serve a singular purpose of filling the world with life and traffic. They present an obstacle in the form of getting in the player’s way or putting them at risk of accidents, but they don’t require complex AI behavior. Ambient traffic AI must walk, talk, and have simple reactions to the player’s actions. Implementing foot traffic for large numbers of AI is possible through a navmesh.
Implement AI behavior for pedestrians and NPCs that allows them to react to the player. In Grand Theft Auto, NPCs regularly stop, run, or scream when a player commits a crime in front of them. More advanced NPCs are even able to alert the police. Using these reactions not only makes the world feel more immersive, since it’s reacting to the player, but they also offer up emergent gameplay opportunities. The player suddenly finds themselves needing to flee the area after a NPC reacts to the player’s reckless driving by calling the police, for instance.
Develop complex AI behavior for police, gang members, and mission givers to provide a more satisfying player-NPC interaction when making a game similar to Grand Theft Auto. The AI handling police behavior must follow a set of rules that reacts to the player’s actions and scales as those crimes become worse or more frequent. As crimes worsen, the police must present more of a challenge to the player until their notoriety dies down. Gang members must have distinct AI behavior from police officers. They must be more aggressive when patrolling their turf or be more welcoming to the player when allied with their particular faction. Named NPCs must have a distinct personality to make them enjoyable and to enhance the experience of interacting with them. Even when they’re only used once, they need just enough of a personality to stand out from ambient traffic NPCs.
7. Create a mission and quest system
Create a mission and quest system that is like GTA by using a system that is modular, treats objectives as atomic conditions, offers different methods to deliver new missions, and keeps world systems functioning, while its side quests handles weird and humorous self-contained stories. A mission and quest system refers to how players receive and complete objectives, and the rewards they get for completing them. Grand Theft Auto is well known for its whacky side quests and even humorous main missions, but each main mission pushes the overall narrative forward.
Use modular design when creating a mission and quest system. A modular design allows the team to design missions with the same structure, and then change certain variables or objectives to make them distinct from each other. A modular approach to a mission and quest systems enables teams to make content quickly, but must only be used for side quests or small events. Main missions are able to use their own modular design, but require more specialization to make them exciting.
Outline atomic conditions when making a mission and quest system to maintain a sandbox element to gameplay. Atomic conditions treat objectives as true or false. When a player kills a target, then the condition is entity X is dead, which triggers the win condition, for example. Using atomic conditions enables more player freedom since they’re able to complete the mission’s objectives any way they want. Grand Theft Auto doesn’t hold the player’s hand when it comes to completing missions. The game franchise champions player agency instead of forcing them down a particular path.
Offer different mission delivery methods to make receiving missions feel immersive and fresh. A mission delivery method refers to how players receive missions. Grand Theft Auto is set in a modern world, meaning that there are plenty of methods for delivering new tasks to players. Phone calls, NPC interactions, dynamic mission pop-ups in the worlds, and even specific icons used on a map indicate ways for players to receive new missions. Mixing the different methods keeps the delivery process interesting instead of feeling stale or unrealistic.
Keep world systems functioning to avoid breaking immersions when making a mission and quest system for a game similar to Grand Theft Auto. World systems refers to the different world states that run in the game. NPC traffic, police systems, and other world systems must continue even when players are on a mission. Police systems provide potential obstacles not scripted in the mission, for example. More importantly, maintaining world systems keeps the player immersed. It’d be odd when the player drives down a street during a mission for all the traffic to suddenly disappear, for instance.
Consider adding humor and weirdness to side quests when making a mission and quest system to make a game similar to Grand Theft Auto. Grand Theft Auto has its share of quirkiness, but it usually ties that to side quests or dynamic events that players discover on their own. Whether they’re weird or not, side quests must be interesting enough that players want to stop and check them out. Since GTA relies heavily on satire, consider leaning in on satirical commentary when designing side quests.
8. Integrate audio
Integrate audio to make a game like GTA by using layered ambience, vehicle SFX, weapon and combat SFX, music and radio audio to bring the game to life. Grand Theft Auto takes its audio seriously, especially where music is concerned. That extra attention to detail has allowed Rockstar Games to take home awards, such as Best Soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto V at the Spike Video Game Awards. A game similar to Grand Theft Auto must approach its audio design with the same focus on cinematic experiences and using popular music artists to lend their vocals to new or licensed tracks.
Use layered ambience to integrate audio that makes the world feel immersive. Layered ambience refers to different ambient tracks carefully layered together to create a soundscape. A layered ambience includes a few or several different audio loops, such as downtown traffic layered with weather, player or vehicle movement, and the hum of crowds or pedestrian chatter. Each district must have its own soundscape, with a downtown ambience sounding significantly different from a suburb.
Consider the sound effects for vehicles when integrating audio and how extensive the audio experience is going to be. Vehicle SFX refers to all the sounds and noises that the vehicle makes, including engine hums, acceleration and deceleration, tire squeals, and other vehicle-specific sounds. Some sound effects work well as a loop, such as the hum of an engine, while others work better on a granular level, such as hitting the gas or breaking. Grand Theft Auto focuses heavily on vehicles, so a game similar to it must offer a detailed audio experience for its vehicles, too.
Design weapon and combat SFX to integrate audio that makes combat more exciting. Combat is an essential part of Grand Theft Auto, so players need to have a satisfying audio experience to support combat. Sound effects such as weapon shots, distant echoes, grunts, screams, and other related noises make combat feel more impactful.
Include music and radio stations to integrate audio that makes the player feel as though they’re part of a living world. Grand Theft Auto simulates real-life experiences that people have, including listening to the radio on their phone or in their car. Because of the game’s focus on realism, GTA puts a lot of effort into designing unique radio stations, and then using real-life musical artists to either create new tracks for the game or to license some of their big hits. A game similar to Grand Theft Auto must have an original soundtrack that plays in the game, but also radio stations with different genres to enhance the immersion.
9. Optimize performance with LODs
Optimize performance with LODs by using three to four LODs for large or common assets, determining the distance from the camera to switch between LOD states, combining LODs with streaming or partitioning, and separate shadow LOD logic to make a game like GTA. LOD stands for Level of Detail, and it refers to how complex a 3D object is based on how close it is to the player. When players are close to an object, the object uses the most complex texture it has, and when a player is far from the object, the 3D object uses a performance-friendly and simple texture. Using LODs is how huge games such as Grand Theft Auto optimizes its performance, allowing players on different platforms to play them.
Use three to four LODs for large or common assets as a standard for optimizing performance in a game similar to Grand Theft Auto. The number of LODs refers to the number of textures the object must have. Three-to-four LODs allow an object to have a few transitional states between really low detail and high-quality detail, without ruining optimization by having more LODs than needed.
Optimize the performance of the game by setting the camera distance and tying it to LOD rendering. Camera distance refers to how far away the player’s camera is from an object. When the camera is far from an object or completely turned away, consider skipping rendering tiny or unimportant objects, such as props. Another way to optimize performance based on camera distance is to set a range where the graphics stop drawing the objects, so the game isn’t doing more than what it needs to at that moment.
Combine LODs with streaming or partitioning to optimize the performance of the game. Streaming or partitioning refers to how the game breaks down an area, or a level, into chunks. It allows the game to render only the chunks of the game that the player needs in that moment instead of rendering the entire level, which for an open-world game becomes extremely costly. Combining both LODs with streaming or partitioning ensures that detailed meshes and textures are used only when the player is nearby.
Separate shadow LOD logic to optimize the performance of a game similar to Grand Theft Auto. An open-world game with several objects, such as buildings and props, has a lot of shadows, and these shadows eat into the game’s performance when not optimized. Including separate LOD logic for shadows means that highly-detailed shadows only render when the player is near instead of rendering all the time. Cheaper shadows for distant objects further optimizes the game’s performance.
How much does it cost to make a game like GTA?
It costs between $2.5 billion and $50,000 to make a game like GTA, based on past Grand Theft Auto budgets and games similar to it. Studios planning to make a game similar to Grand Theft Auto must expect huge costs, especially the more advanced the game is. Below is a list of games similar to Grand Theft Auto and their respective budgets.
- Grand Theft Auto V or Similar AAA Title: Costs around $265 million to make, which includes extensive teams and high production value
- Massive Franchises Similar to Grand Theft Auto: Costs around $2.5 billion to make, which includes marketing, long-term support for the game and any online features, as well as global launches similar to a Grand Theft Auto global launch
- Next-Gen Title Similar to Grand Theft Auto IV: Costs around $1 billion, including costs related to cutting edge AI and expansive content
- Game Similar to Grand Theft Auto IV: Costs around $100 million, including advanced graphics and a large-scale development
- Eastern European Studio Mid-Tier Open-World Game: Costs around $20 million for a mid-tier take on an open-world game in general
- Game Similar to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Costs around $5 million with older technology and a smaller scope
- Small Team Making a Modest Open-World: Costs around $500,000 using pre-made assets and tools
- Solodev Open-World Game: Costs $50,000 for a simplified retro-style open-world game
- Small Indie Game with Basic Open-World Mechanics: Costs around $20,000 to mimic an open world with basic mechanics
How long does it take to make a game like GTA?
It takes between 12 weeks and 13 years to make a game like GTA, depending on the size of the team and the complexity of the game. Studios that want to make as close to Grand Theft Auto as possible must be ready to put in years of work. Grand Theft Auto V took around five years to develop, with Grand Theft Auto VI taking around eight years. The average time it takes to make a game similar to Grand Theft Auto based on the team size and complexity of the game is broken down below.
- 12-36 Weeks: MVP development for a game with basic open-world features and minimal content.
- 2-4 Months: A small-scale indie studio making a GTA-game with limited scope and minimal resources.
- 1 Year: A small team creating a basic 2D game similar to GTA with limited interactions and simple design.
- 2+ Years: Independent developers working on a mid-sized project similar to GTA with moderate complexity.
- 3-7 Years: A AAA studio with AAA game development that features high-quality graphics, complex storylines, and large-scale environments similar to GTA.
- 4-6 Years: A large team with multiple departments working on an expansive open-world game similar to GTA.
- 10 Years: A studio crafting a franchise-defining title similar to GTA that requires innovation and extensive refinement.
- 12-13 Years: A studio working on a highly anticipated sequel similar to Grand Theft Auto VI with advanced features.
