Speaking to Edge about the latest installment in the GTA series, Houser said that the incorporation of NaturalMotion’s Euphoria procedural animation technology means all user experiences with the game will be unique.

“This is how we always wanted GTA to be, but it simply wasn’t possible until now. And some of the technology that’s gone into this new game, compared to what we had before, it’s shocking.”

Engineers from NaturalMotion have been working on-site at Rockstar North for months at a time to stitch in the company’s Euphoria technology, introducing a bespoke, heavily integrated solution, not something simply bought off the shelf. The results are truly transformative, and evident right from the moment you begin to move Niko around the gameworld. It’s tech that drives the behavior of NPCs, too, and the result is something that does more justice to the ‘living, breathing world’ tag so frequently attached to the GTA series. This is a genuine evolutionary step, and Rockstar and NaturalMotion deserve enormous recognition in getting here.

"I think the fact of the matter is, after this long of playing the game, unexpected things are happening to me all the time," he continues. "And I’m bloody jaded and bloody cynical, and I’m the first to complain about things, but this actually is doing that. I’ll be getting in a battle with some guys, I’ll steal someone’s car and some fist fight’s kicked off, and then suddenly he’ll be chasing me through the street, and I’ll get in position – like, ‘I’m not running from you any more; I’m going to fucking have it with you now, mate’ – and just as I’m about to crack him, a car comes flying through the shops, runs him over, and he goes flying.

“These tiny little moments happen more per square inch – or per square pixel or whatever – than I ever dreamt possible, and it’s the organic nature of all the elements that have come together, and particularly the procedural animation via the NaturalMotion content, that allow the experience to be unique. There really are lots of ways to play these missions."

Houser’s comments were taken from part 2 of Edge’s expansive look at the history of GTA. The feature goes in depth with Rockstar Games’ president on the making of arguably 2008’s biggest title, Grand Theft Auto IV.

In part one of the feature, GTA: The Inside Story, Houser details the history of one of gaming"s biggest franchises, Grand Theft Auto, from 2D to part IV.