Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser revealed in an interview how the in-game radio station system appeared in Grand Theft Auto III. According to him, the development took two years.
The first year, a team in Scotland led by Leslie Benzies worked on it, solving technical problems.
"I think the development cycle for GTA 3 was two years. The first year was completed by a team from Scotland led by Leslie (Benzies), who was in charge of the technical preparation of the entire project. And then we were able to drive around the world for more than a minute and wondered: how do we fill it all up without having any money at all?
Fill it with content and talk radio? Laz and I decided that this could be done inexpensively. And then someone suggested that characters from the game call in to talk radio. And at that moment we realized: \"It's just magical how it's all connected\"».
This is how Chatterbox FM was born. The game was made before the studio could afford to license hits, so the option with real music was ruled out. Similar and original tracks were considered, but the concept of radio turned out to be larger in scale - it connected the plot and the world.
A special role was played by Lazlow Jones, who later joined Houser at Absurd Ventures. He not only voiced the host, but also brought in famous guests. The idea of calls from characters gave the world depth: for example, Maria discussed her relationship with Claude, the player's character, on the air.
It was this decision that made GTA radio stations not just a background, but a part of the narrative.
