GTA Developer Avoids First Person Shooters and Genres Where Originality Has Faded

Rockstar Games, the developer of hit franchises like Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption, tries to avoid genres like first person shooters because it wants to deliver original things with all of its projects, and there are just too many companies that make such shooters without bringing anything new to the mix.

Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser has shared his views on the many genres from the gaming industry and how his company is trying to avoid ones that have become either too popular or where innovation can no longer be achieved.

Talking with Japanese magazine Famitsu, via 1Up, the Rockstar executive confirmed that a first person shooter project isn't going to be made by his company anytime soon.

"We're deliberately avoiding that right now," he said. "It's in our DNA to avoid doing what other companies are doing."

Houser admits that next year's Max Payne 3 might be very close to the shooter genre, but it does have lots of elements that make it stand out.

"I suppose you could say that Max Payne 3 is something close to an FPS, but there are really unique aspects to the setting and gameplay there, too, not just in the story. You have to have originality in your games; you have to have some kind of interesting message. You could say that the goalpoint of Rockstar is to have the players really feel what we're trying to do."

Houser once again emphasized that studios should try to make gamers feel good when playing and push the industry forward with quality experiences, not just try to make a quick buck.

"[We] made new genres by ourselves with games like the GTA series. We didn't rely on testimonials in a business textbook to do what we've done. I think we succeeded precisely because we didn't concentrate on profit... If we make the sort of games we want to play, then we believe people are going to buy them."

Rockstar's next big game, Grand Theft Auto V, is expected to incorporate quite a lot of innovations, but we can't say for sure until the first trailer for the title is released on November 2.