Obbe Vermeij, former technical director at Rockstar North, periodically shares his thoughts on social media and interacts with fans of the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
He was recently asked about a potential GTA IV remaster:
Obbe, are the rumors true that porting GTA IV to current-generation consoles would require a huge effort? Especially due to engine problems and similar technical limitations?
The developer believes that a high-quality remaster of GTA IV would require a very large budget:
[Creating a GTA IV remaster] would require a tremendous amount of work. Most of the art would have to be improved. Especially the cutscenes look outdated. To make the game competitive in today's market, it would cost about as much as it took to create the original game. Rockstar may refuse such costs. However, if it does decide, it is important to approach the process correctly.
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Rumors about the development of a GTA IV remaster have been circulating for a very long time, but Rockstar has not announced anything yet.
However, fans already have an alternative. Modder xoxor4d has released his RTX remaster, created using NVIDIA tools.