Rockstar Vice President, Dan Houser, admitted that the prospect of having a Grand Theft Auto set in the sci-fi future is "tempting," but maintained a position that he still needs "a good reason" to actually produce it.
When asked by French site, Ecrans, about the possibility of having a GTA title set in the future, Houser answered that "We will do it the very second we have an idea."
"When we decided to make a Western, it was because we knew we had something to say," he explained, referring to Red Dead Redemption. "We have no interest in going into science fiction for the sake of flying cars and laser guns. The best science fiction stories are those that speak about the human condition."
"So while this idea is very tempting and, by definition, anything's possible in a videogame, we lack the essential thing for the moment: a good reason."
Taking GTA to the future would be a great way to freshen up its gameplay and narrative, but Houser believes that there is no reason yet to move away from their familiar and successful formula; not yet anyway.
"One of our strengths is the consistency of the game world. We're not necessarily the best writers in the world, but we [know] how to write a video game," he explained.
"To offer an analogy with cinema, some films can be told in one page of text. Once the basic situation is there, you know exactly how it will evolve. But if you're careful to change the narrative structure, it can change everything. Chris Nolan's Memento is a good example. That's the kind of approach we've achieved."