Former Rockstar developer Obbe Vermeij announced on November 11 via Twitter/X that he will publish a blog about his time at Rockstar North where he worked on titles like GTA 3 and 4, Vice City, and San Andreas. Employees of Rockstar North who worked with Vermeij were not pleased about this, which led Vermeij to decide to delete the blog.
What happened? Obbe Vermeij worked at Rockstar North from 1995 to 2009 on several well-known titles such as GTA 3 and 4, Vice City, and San Andreas. During this time, he authored a blog where he shares funny anecdotes but also reveals some previously unknown details about the game GTA 3.
“I received an email from Rockstar North,” he states in his final post on November 22. Some of his colleagues in Edinburgh were not very pleased about his blog, which is why he decided to delete it. He doesn’t want to upset his colleagues in Edinburgh, it is later mentioned in a post by him on X.
What was the blog about? In his blog, he mainly reported on the development of the GTA titles he was involved in. He addressed topics such as how the weather works in the games, why there were many cars of the same types, and much more.
In some of his stories, he also mentions the names of his development colleagues. Even if they contained nothing embarrassing, this could of course be a reason why some of his colleagues were upset if he hadn’t asked for permission beforehand.
Why did Vermeij delete his blog? Many fans of the GTA series reacted on X (formerly Twitter) sadly and confused by the news of the blog’s deletion. Many who read it reported that the blog contained no negative experiences at Rockstar North. Additionally, Vermeij spoke very positively about his former colleagues.
“I thought they would be happy to read the blog,” he later said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). He was surprised that the opposite was now the case.
However, he emphasizes that Rockstar New York was not involved and that no legal action had been taken against him due to his publication. He was also not forced to delete the blog, as some fans speculated on X. The blog was just not important enough for him to upset his colleagues in Edinburgh.
What’s next? In his final blog post, Vermeij expresses the wish that Rockstar itself talks openly about the development of the GTA trilogy, but he is sure that this will not happen in the near future.
“Maybe I’ll try again in one or two decades,” he jokes. Many fans are already expressing their wishes on Twitter, hoping that Vermeij will share about his time at Rockstar again.
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