Today GTA Online is very different than when it launched.

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How GTA Online Is Changing Rockstar North

see deal Grand Theft Auto Online - PlayStation3 $19.89 on Target

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“ Every key member of the team that launched Grand Theft Auto V has worked on every aspect of GTA Online...

Why the PS3 and Xbox 360 Were Left Behind

New GTA Online Gallery 8 IMAGES

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How a Heavy Breather Inspired the Beast

What's the Future of GTA Online?

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“ [Heists] were a tremendous undertaking and for now we have other ideas for GTA Online that we’re working to deliver.

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“ Right now our focus is on GTA Online which has exceeded our expectations.

The great city of Los Santos, bequeathed to players by Grand Theft Auto V, was always meant to evolve over time. Although initially blighted by server problems, it has grown through a succession of free updates, including the excellent multiplayer heists, and consequently so has the player base. Currently, 8 million people log-in each week.Freemode events are the next major addition, a suite of new and varied challenges only possible on next-gen and PC versions of the game. You can read much more about those modes in our hands-on preview and learn how they reinvigorate GTA Online.But what's next? We spoke to Director of Design at Rockstar North Imran Sarwar about the future of GTA Online, how new consoles allow new types of experiences, and how Online has changed Rockstar North as a developer.Rockstar North is typically allowed years to produce an installment in the GTA series, but the introduction of Online has meant production has never ceased. It's changed not only the way the team works but how it's thinking about future projects."Every key member of the team that launched Grand Theft Auto V has worked on every aspect of GTA Online, from all content through Heists, and now to these latest updates. This comes from our initial approach to GTA Online – we wanted to create an experience that was equal in quality and detail to the efforts we had made in our single player games, and we believed players could have both without sacrificing one over the other. GTA Online has proven too interesting and too important to be separate from the main mission of the entire team."Unfortunately, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 won't be receiving the addition of Freemode events to GTA Online, but it stems from a desire to push the mode in new and technically-demanding directions. It's got to the point where no more can be added to last-gen versions without breaking them."The primary technical reason is the memory capacity for the older systems," says Sarwar. "We are constantly adding new items to the game with each update and we began approaching the memory limits after the first year of GTA Online content. We found ourselves almost at capacity after the launch of Heists but with some creative programming we managed to squeeze additional updates into those older systems which allowed us to make it as far as the two Ill Gotten Gains updates, but we can’t make any more meaningful updates without putting the stability of the entire online game at risk."But going forward those restrictions no longer exists, with the power of PS4, Xbox One, and PC opening new possiblities for Online."After almost two years of regular free content updates delivered to those systems, we are now focused on the opportunities provided by the more powerful PS4, XB1 and PC – and we’ve got some really fun ideas on how to make the most of these more powerful machines. Bringing the Rockstar Editor to the newer consoles and the changes that come with Freemode Events are a great start and only the beginning of what we want to accomplish with GTA Online long term."Aside from simply allowing us to utilize more memory and pack additional assets into the game itself, the additional power will mean we can create more complex game types and deliver on some of the ideas we have that only these newer systems can allow. We are really excited for how GTA Online can continue to evolve as a platform with these new systems."One of the best new challenges in the new update is Hunt the Beast, a supernatural affair in which one player is transformed into a teenage werewolf, complete with red varsity jacket, and has to visit key locations around the map. He or she is invisible to the other players, who must work together to track them down. When the Beast reaches a landmark their position is revealed for 10 seconds, and with each additional landmark reached an additional 10 seconds is added, giving the hunters a chance. While the beast might resemble Teen Wolf, the story of how the mode came about is far removed from a simple screening of the film. "One day during one of the big GTA Online playtests we do across the studios, we could hear someone breathing and grunting heavily into the mic, something anyone who plays games online has probably experienced." Sarwar explains. "No one knew who it was, so tracking the person down became priority number one. That gave us the idea of a mode that used audio cues to chase a monster across the city – and thus Hunt the Beast was born."GTA Online averages over 8 million users a week, with more active users than it had in its first year. But what's next? And how far ahead is Rockstar North planning?"There is no specific time limit at this point," says Sarwar. "As long as people continue to play and enjoy GTA Online, we will keep making content and evolving the experience. We still have a ton of ideas that we’d like to see make it into the game and are going to continue pushing the limits of what’s possible.""Making GTA Online updates free and accessible to everyone allows us to keep our player base together as the game evolves. We think this approach offers the entire community the best range of options for how they choose to play the game while keeping everyone together. The most important thing is that players find the experience enjoyable and can share it with all of their friends – that is really only possible with free, optional updates."But while Heists were great and helped bring people back into GTA Online, it doesn't seem like we'll be getting any more in the near future."Heists have been a huge success, and they really revitalized the GTA Online community," Sarwar explains. "Heists encourage people to play together while giving them the chance to earn serious amounts of cash. However, as we’ve said before they were also a lot harder to make than we initially thought they would be, and it took us multiple tries to come up with the design that we eventually launched – but we believe and hope it was well worth the wait for everyone. They were a tremendous undertaking and for now we have other ideas for GTA Online that we’re working to deliver."One often-requested addition is the ability to customise your apartment. Right now, apartments within a similar price range have near-identical interiors."We know that players are looking for some fun customization options around their personal apartments and we have a few ideas that we're currently working on for future updates.""Right now our focus is on GTA Online which has exceeded our expectations. We currently have all key members of the team that launched Grand Theft Auto V focused on supporting GTA Online in every capacity. The community we’ve been able to foster is massive, growing each day and we have so many ideas that have yet to make it into the game. The evolution of GTA Online on these newer platforms is also an exciting prospect as the power of those systems is going to allow us to achieve even more."

Daniel is IGN's Games Editor over in London. He writes about movies, too. You can be part of the world's most embarrassing cult by following him on IGN and Twitter