Rockstar expressed regret about implementing a stealth mode in GTA: San Andreas

A brief history of “GTA San Andreas” and the disappointment of Rockstar’s team

*Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas*, released in October 2004, became one of Rockstar Games’ biggest commercial successes. Despite this, the development team was not without regrets about some decisions made during the game’s production.

What the former technical director said
Obbe Vermeij, who left Rockstar North nine months after the release of *GTA IV*, shared his thoughts in a microblog post. He spoke about the main disappointment related to adding stealth elements to *San Andreas*.

> “I don’t know about those two missions, but as far as I remember, stealth was one of those things we later regretted adding because we ended up overloading ourselves,” recalls Vermeij.

Vermeij notes that the *GTA IV* team did not plan to include stealth missions, but some employees experimented with the element without its oversight.

How it reflected on subsequent games
Regretting stealth in *San Andreas*, developers apparently concluded that this genre was unsuitable for GTA’s open world. Therefore, *GTA IV* and the original version of *GTA V* omitted stealth elements.

However, in the latest entry in the series (released in 2023) stealth components appeared: preparatory robbery phases, vehicle theft for the character Simon, and other similar tasks. This indicates that the team managed to find a balance between an open world and covert missions.

Brief statistics
- Release date – October 2004 (PS2)

- Platforms – PC, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, iOS, Android

- Remaster – 2021 as part of *GTA: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition*

- Sales – over 27.5 million copies

Thus, “San Andreas” remains a key element in GTA’s history, and the lessons learned from its development have influenced subsequent titles in the series.