Many developers were genuinely excited about developing a new GTA.
The previous GTA: San Andreas had sold extrely well, now surpassing 20 million copies.
Players had long been eagerly awaiting the return of a GTA-style ga.
During that wait, a few developers did attempt to make similar gas, but due to limitations—whether technical within their companies or pressure from public opinion—they couldn't push boundaries the way Takayuki could, who simply ignored all criticism and stayed true to his vision.
As a result, these GTA-like gas felt restrained and lacked the intense excitent and satisfaction that players craved.
But for those who played GTA: San Andreas, what they loved most was how exhilarating and imrsive it was.
Doing whatever you wanted in a modern, realistic city might sound dull at first—but imagine driving a tank through urban streets.
Or creating a mod that lets you soar through the skies like a god in a modern-day city.
These are things you can't do in real life—but video gas can make them happen.
...
...
That's the core reason why so many players fell in love with the GTA series in the first place.
Then, after being drawn in by the freedom of GTA, players who started the main story would soon realize the narrative was surprisingly good.
No—more than good.
From a social standpoint, the ga was quite politically correct. Featuring a Black protagonist, it silenced critics who might otherwise complain.
Even if the protagonist did shady or even criminal things, the thes of family and brotherhood resonated deeply with players.
So worried that the criminal elents might negatively influence minors, but the number of people who grew up to beco criminals because of a video ga is even lower than those who win the lottery.
So based on the goodwill that GTA had built with players, the mont GTA 4 was announced, it was bound to cause a massive stir.
Much like the announcent of the Final Fantasy VII Remake back in the day.
Toward the end of 2014, Takayuki devoted half of his ti specifically to supervising GTA 4's developnt and guiding the team on how to make the ga better and more aligned with players' desires.
In the original GTA 4, the freedom wasn't actually as great as many expected.
That ga introduced many new chanics that differed from San Andreas, and these changes made driving and exploring feel less satisfying.
In GTA 4, for example, the protagonist could go flying out of the windshield in a crash. While realistic, it made the gaplay less enjoyable—players had to get up, return to the car, and continue, which broke the flow. Takayuki had personally criticized this chanic many tis while playing it.
Also, motorcycle gaplay, which had felt great in San Andreas, saw a sharp decline in handling and responsiveness in GTA 4.
That was largely because GTA 4 marked a transition in art style and engine technology, and the technical gap made it impossible to fully recreate the feel of San Andreas.
Takayuki planned to adjust this—at the very least, to restore the satisfying gaplay feel.
Technically, it wouldn't be an issue in this world.
All of Gastar Electronic Entertainnt's gas used Unreal Engine, and there were no risks in reusing core systems.
If Takayuki wanted, he could even bring over combat systems from gas like Street Fighter or Monster Hunter into GTA.
But that wouldn't be necessary—GTA didn't need over-the-top combat. It only needed realistic, human-like movent and behavior.
That could be achieved with standard motion capture using Unreal Engine.
By the ti all of this was underway, 2014 ca to an end, and 2015 arrived.
At the beginning of the year, the annual Gastar Carnival kicked off as scheduled.
This was now seen by gars as the ultimate video ga festival, a sacred event for die-hard fans.
Here, one could potentially et any of the industry's top developers.
Even competitors of Gastar Electronic Entertainnt sotis showed up—not to sabotage the event, but to attend with a pilgrim's reverence.
After all, they were gars too. And a gar's love for great gas doesn't change, no matter who makes them.
"President, you want to go on stage to announce the new ga?"
Umihane Shiratori looked at the speech in his hands, surprised.
Takayuki had handed it to him earlier that morning.
Takayuki nodded. "That's right. You're basically the main figure this year at Gastar Carnival. Since you know the most about the new GTA, it'll feel more sincere for you to explain the ga to the public yourself."
The truth was, Takayuki just wanted to step back for once.
After so many years of personally hosting Gastar Carnival, even he was getting a bit tired.
Besides, this wasn't a major milestone year for the company—more of a transitional phase. So letting his team take the spotlight made sense.
Apart from Umihane Shiratori, Takayuki had also arranged for several other producers working on new gas to take turns presenting their projects.
All he needed to do was sit backstage and watch.
"I... can I really do it?" Shiratori suddenly looked nervous.
"That doesn't sound like you. You used to be like a powder keg—whoever argued with you, you'd explode at them. What happened, you scared now?"
"Well... this isn't the sa as an online fla war..." said Shiratori, now in his forties, blushing slightly.
Blushing. Takayuki found it strangely out of character.
"Just be yourself. If soone tries to push you around, push back—just like you would online. Don't hold back."
"...Alright, I'll give it a try."
After a mont of internal struggle, Shiratori agreed to Takayuki's request and prepared to personally go on stage to announce his ga.
At that mont, there were just ten minutes left until the presentation.
Down below, crowds of gars had already gathered, eagerly awaiting the announcent of new gas.
Among them was Myron Case, CEO of MicFo, who had co anonymously.
Also in attendance was Ueto Hayakawa, who arrived with great fanfare.
And Hack Brown, who made no attempt to hide his presence.
These were all titans of the video ga industry.
Fans of the "Big Four" often said that the global gaming market was divided equally among these companies.
But the truth was, Gastar Electronic Entertainnt was dominant, and the other three were just scrambling for the leftovers.
These industry leaders had only co for one reason: to get a first-hand look at Gastar's upcoming ga roadmap.
But when the ti ca and they saw a stranger walk on stage, disappointnt spread across their faces.
Takayuki wasn't presenting personally? Then this year must not be a big deal.
They realized they had miscalculated—maybe they shouldn't have bothered coming.
The first person to take the stage was Belrade, now head of the company's PC Battle platform.
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