{
  "id": 5360966,
  "title": "'We Were All Positive It Was Going to Fail': Rockstar Devs Thought GTA Online Would Flop",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/we-were-all-positive-it-was-going-to-fail-rockstar-devs-thought-gta",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-03T16:12:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "IGN",
    "slug": "ign",
    "url": "https://www.ign.com/articles/we-were-all-positive-it-was-going-to-fail-rockstar-devs-thought-gta-online-would-flop"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former Rockstar Games employee Matt Freedman has revealed that his team predicted GTA Online would flop when it was first being developed. In an interview with Eldorado, Freedman stated that the project was considered an afterthought during its initial creation. He recalled QA testers expressing their concerns about the limited content for the online mode, saying, \"We’ve got four hours of content for online mode. To do everything in GTA Online, it’s four hours.\" Despite the initial doubts, the game exceeded expectations and has since become a major phenomenon for Rockstar. Freedman did not specify when the perception of GTA Online's potential may have shifted at the studio, but it's clear they underestimated the game's staying power.",
  "summary": "A former Rockstar Games developer has revealed that the team thought GTA Online was going to fail before it launched.",
  "key_points": [
    "Former Rockstar Games employee Matt Freedman predicted GTA Online would flop.",
    "QA testers expressed concerns about limited content for online mode.",
    "GTA Online exceeded expectations and became a major phenomenon for Rockstar."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}