GTA 5 is one of the most iconic games in the history of gaming. The Los Santos map of GTA 5 is the biggest in the series, with beautifully detailed landscapes that encourage exploration. The game has three playable protagonists and each of them have a different agenda, which makes the story feel engaging. Besides these, GTA 5 has several exciting side activities like racing, yoga, hunting, watching movies, playing sports, running a triathlon, and more. While many of these things are known to most GTA 5 fans since the game has been out for almost a decade, there are some GTA 5 facts that even hardcore fans aren’t aware of.
1. Mission with Michael and Trevor as a couple
In the early builds of GTA 5, there was a mission where the main characters Michael and Trevor would have played a couple. According to a report by The Gamer, Rockstar was supposed to have this mission in the game, but it wasn’t finished in the final build. In The Sharmoota Job heist, Michael and Trevor would have been a heterosexual couple, with Trevor cross-dressing as a woman. They would then contact a real estate agent and check out a house in an upscale neighbourhood, while trying to steal a horse and a safe, as well as kidnap someone’s wife. The unreleased heist can be found hidden in the game’s code, which can now be heard on YouTube.
2. Franklin was originally supposed to be killed in the story
As GTA 5’s main campaign concludes, players get the choice between ‘Kill Michael,’ ‘Kill Trevor,’ and ‘Deathwish.’ While the Deathwish option keeps all the main characters alive, it wasn’t supposed to be the case in earlier builds. The game’s code previously indicated that selecting the Deathwish option would have killed off Franklin in the story. It’s unclear who would have killed Franklin, but players would have been to play as his friend Lamar after he dies.
3. Method acting for Trevor and Michael
Method acting has been a popular technique for actors to deliver a convincing performance on-screen. Voice actors for Michael and Trevor also used this technique to deliver a fantastic performance. Ned Luke, who plays Michael, had gained weight to achieve the dad bod of Michael. Steven Ogg, who plays Trevor, would read lines in nothing but his underwear to get into the character. Both actors opted for method acting after Rockstar suggested to use motion capture for their parts.
4. The long-running Moon easter egg
In GTA 3, players discovered a random easter egg where shooting at the Moon with a sniper rifle created an interesting effect. The easter egg has been in the series since, and can be found in GTA 5 as well. Although the Moon has a rotating cycle in GTA 5, you can shoot at the Moon with a sniper rifle and it will change its size instantly. The Moon will continue to grow larger and eventually come back to its original size.
5. A lot of GTA fans called in sick to get the game early
GTA 5 was one of the most hyped games ever when it launched in 2013. Many players in the US had called in sick to get the physical disc early and start playing the game as soon as possible. IGN had surveyed 10,995 players and according to its poll, 5059 of them (46 percent) said that they had taken a holiday from work on the GTA 5 launch day. More than 2,000 players (19 percent) had said that they would be calling in sick to play the game at launch, creating a small “GTA flu” among the gaming community. In the US, players had started queueing up at midnight outside retail stores to get their copy of GTA 5 before everyone else.
6. GTA 5 initial development cost $137 million and it earned over $6 billion in profits
GTA 5 is one of the most expensive games to develop, with Rockstar spending $137 million in the initial development. That being said, it is also one of bestselling games of all time, with more than 140 million units sold since 2013. Rockstar has launched the game on three console generations so far, increasing its sales even further. All of these sum up to more than $6 billion in profits, without counting the in-game transactions. It should also be noted that the initial marketing budget was somewhat around $128 million as well, and Rockstar has spent even more money on DLCs and development for new generation of consoles. That being said, the profits are still much higher than the development and marketing costs of GTA 5.
7. GTA 5 has references to Red Dead Redemption
The original Red Dead Redemption is another popular Rockstar game that has been adored by fans as well as critics. When you visit Franklin’s house in Vinewood Hills, you will see a bookcase in the living room with a book titled Red Dead by author J. Marston. This is a reference to Jack Marston, John Marston’s son in Red Dead Redemption. Jack is extremely fond of books and had even planned to write one himself. In GTA Online, Rockstar has added a side activity that is connected to Red Dead Online.
8. Main characters are based on different types of GTA players
Rockstar has modelled each of the main playable character in GTA 5 on the existing GTA player base. According to Rockstar, there are three types of GTA players that are represented by Michael, Franklin, and Trevor. Michael is a retired criminal who is trying to forget is past, and represents players who are familiar with GTA mechanics and enjoy the open world. Franklin is a young and budding criminal who is eager to learn, and represents newcomers to the series. While Trevor is a crazy addict who pushes everything to the extreme, and represents the most chaotic and destructive players in the game.
9. GTA 5 script was almost 3,500 pages long
The sprawling story and expletive-laden dialogues of GTA 5 were written in a really long script. In a NY Comic Con 2013 panel, voice actors for the game’s main characters, Steven Ogg, Ned Luke, and Shawn Fonteno, revealed that the GTA 5 script was 3,500 pages long, which contained the main plot of the game. It should be noted that there are even more dialogues in the game for NPCs and some side missions.
10. Main characters have their own sleep schedules
Rockstar has worked quite a lot to make sure the main characters are unique in many ways. Each of the main characters has a different sleep schedule. When you save the game by sleeping, a different amount of time will pass based on which character you are playing. Michael will sleep for 6 hours, Franklin will sleep for 8 hours, and Trevor will sleep for 12 hours. While this doesn’t really affect the gameplay experience, this shows how much attention to detail goes into game development at Rockstar.
