GTA 6 stays locked away from the duo who built GTA

Dave Jones, co-creator of the original Grand Theft Auto, and Brian Baglow, its original writer and publicist, are waiting like everyone else to see GTA 6. Baglow shook his head when asked if he had played it ahead of launch, though he told the BBC he already has a pre-order. Rockstar has kept the follow-up under wraps after a 13-year wait, two delays and several high-profile leaks.

The first GTA landed in 1997 in Dundee, Scotland, from DMA Design, a small team by later standards. After Lemmings, the studio toyed with a racing game called Race'n'Chase, then hit on letting players get out of the car, switch and steal vehicles and run around on foot. Jones said the team considered letting players be a cop too, but decided: 'it's way more fun playing the bad guy.'

Sales were a 'slow burn' next to Lemmings, but the game kept selling through its launch year, which Baglow reckoned was word of mouth. Its criminal violence sparked UK Parliament debates and calls for a ban; much of that controversy was later found to have been generated by publisher BMG Interactive as a viral marketing stunt. Jones said the team 'never at any point' asked whether something was controversial: 'We just did things that we felt were fun.'

The original's top-down 2D look was basic, but its satirical fake brands, radio stations and Scottish outsider humour set the template, according to Guardian games editor Keza MacDonald. Baglow said the world-building - business names, radio stations, lyrics, DJs - is what he is proudest of. For GTA 6, the fictional state of Leonida is expected to be double the size of GTA V's map.

GTA V made $1bn (£760m) in three days when it launched in 2013, faster than any entertainment product at the time. PlayStation and Xbox say GTA 6 is already the most pre-ordered title in their digital stores' history, helped by its 212GB size pushing players to pre-load. MacDonald called it a potential 'shot in the arm' for the games industry and said every player is watching to see what Rockstar has been doing.

Jones and Baglow do not wish they were still on the game. Jones said everybody loves their time on it 'for one, two, three versions,' but eventually wants to do other things; Baglow said watching the world fall in love with GTA over 29 years has been 'joyful.'