How the hell were they able to develop GTA San Andreas in just 2 years?

[Anonymous]

Man there are lots of effort, detail and information on this game. In 2004, how were they able to develop this game in just 2 years? Maybe aliens are behind this game.

[BCA6010]

Actually, 2 years was considered a long time for a GTA game- longer than Vice City, and it was also developed on a budget of about $15,000,000 which was extremely high for the time (and far below average for a AAA title today).

This was also back in an era in which a game pretty much had to be polished and finished at release, rather than modern games which are basically sold at what should be an early beta stage and gradually polished into a complete game over the course of a year. Pretty much every game was made by one studio and development team alone, while many current games will outsource different components to completely different studios, like the assembly timeline of an automobile. You simply won't see the same kind of artistic dedication from big name companies anymore because the games are metaphorically made in a factory.

[NamerOfStars]

Lower budgets, fewer demands from corporate, and a less crazy culture in general. Part of it was also old elements and assets- they weren't making a "new game", but a new *installment*- but only part; tde original System Shock was made in 19 months. The System Shock remake, which is just a remake, is at seven years and counting.

[Anonymous]

They only wanted one game so they could give all their energy to it.