Bridging Virtual Worlds: The Long Pause on GTA: San Andreas VR

News of the next great video game venture is always big, but announcements of old classics married to new technology’s latest incarnation are always buzz-worthy. So when Meta (née Facebook) announced it was creating a version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in virtual reality (VR) – a way to visit the streets of Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas again – the gaming world buzzed. And yet the path from announce to indefinite hiatus offers a glimpse at the difficulties that are frustrating a fledgling gaming industry eager to plunge into VR.

A Vision Yet Unfulfilled

It’s been almost three years since, at a Meta event called CONNECT 2020, the technology giant announced it was planning to create a virtual reality, or VR, adaptation of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for Meta Quest 2, the company’s standalone headset. The announcement set the Internet ablaze with promises of the most iconic sandbox experience of all time viewed from an entirely new perspective. Ever since, it’s been one hurdle after another.

The Pause That Speaks Volumes

The copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that Quest users thought they’d get to play – which Meta claimed was ‘the first of its kind’ – sits on a shelf now, development ‘on hold indefinitely’. Meta told IGN that the decision was made, explaining: We’re putting GTA: San Andreas on hold indefinitely while we both focus on other projects. This wasn’t a ‘bad build of a hit product’, whatever that might mean, and it wasn’t even just something that died under its own weight. The Meta Quest VR account was telling the truth: even the best-hyped of projects could collapse beneath the weight of the logistics and the human relationships that are involved.

The Intersection of Innovation and Patience

This delaying tactic also forces us to ask about the short distance between progressive innovation and viable marketplace viability. VR technology continues to develop at a rapid rate, but there’s still a path to be trodden if it wants to claim the mantle of viable games-as-played rather than games-as-experienced medium; VR versions of games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas are ambitious undertakings, often requiring considerable capital investment and planning, not to mention patience, on the part of the developer(s) and gamers.

CONNECT: A Platform for High Hopes

Meta’s annual CONNECT conference is virtual reality’s sort of Mecca because it has often announced exactly what sorts of games and experiences the future of VR should offer. And the GTA: San Andreas announcement for the Meta Quest 2 at CONNECT this year was a clear indication that Meta was ready to accelerate setting the course of VR. The indefinite hiatus serves as a reminder that, in the high-pressure world of technolust, some big plans can’t translate into reality as fast as anyone wants or expected.

The Community's Reaction and Resilience

The reaction across the gaming world to the pause on GTA: San Andreas VR has been largely uncritical, with the tempered disappointment of disappointed gamers, who have been impressed with the potential of VR. It is a signal of the way that anticipation lives on as recurring hope, with the pain of lost promises swallowed up in the cavalier attitude that says: ‘When it comes, it’ll be worth the wait.’

The Future of VR and Gaming

While Meta seemingly has its sights set on other endeavours and Rockstar appears to have put San Andreas on the backburner as it works on the universe of Grand Theft Auto 6, the wait for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in VR is still on. And though this pause may be annoying for fans, it is not the end, but just another part of the iterative process that marks tech innovation. Other VR and AR experiments continue to push the envelope, and that dream of a fully immersive game world is very much still alive. The companies at the forefront are learning, adapting and preparing for a time when games like GTA can, quite literally, be experienced in ways that we had previously thought impossible.

Understanding CONNECT

CONNECT is the annual conference held by Meta, formerly Facebook. It’s where the VR world sets its course. Press announcements, acquisition announcements, new technology – CONNECT is where it’s happening. CONNECT is the place where seeds are sown in the VR dev world. CONNECT is the place where seeds get watered and nourished. Companies announce collaborations that, a year down the road, nobody will remember, but which will have contributed to the flight of the VR lemming. Her remaining connections meant that there would be creative work to do. Even if the GTA: San Andreas VR project was suspended, the lemming would go on running and jumping.

We, the people of gaming, remain at the edge of the seat. We watch. We wait. And we hope that companies such as Meta will do better next time to recapture the magic of classics without sacrificing its heart. But CONNECT and each announcement makes us feel, to our core: There exists such limitless capacity for the new, for play, for making and waking up and seeing… And eternally, we could.