No Early Access and a Standard Pre-Order: Why Even the Original 1997 GTA Creators Still Haven't Played GTA 6
After a thirteen-year wait since the fifth installment, two separate delays, and an ironclad culture of secrecy, the global launch of Grand Theft Auto VI on November 19, 2026 is finally days away. At Rockstar Games, security surrounding this 212 GB juggernaut is so tight that even the founding fathers who created the original 1997 game at DMA Design are getting zero special treatment. Reunited in Dundee, Scotland, Dave Jones and Brian Baglow revealed they will be experiencing Leonida at the exact same time as everyone else.
Reunited at Dundee's Abertay University: "I've Got the Pre-Order," Says Original GTA Writer
Sitting inside the state-of-the-art computer laboratory at Abertay University in Dundee, the historic Scottish gaming hub where Dave Jones helped establish the world's very first university degree programs in video game development during the late 1990s, the two industry pioneers reflected on their creation with the BBC. Alongside Jones, who founded DMA Design and co-created the original 1997 Grand Theft Auto following the studio's puzzle hit Lemmings, sat Brian Baglow, the first game's writer and publicist.
When asked whether Rockstar Games had granted early hands-on access or a private preview to the architects who laid the foundations of the multi-billion-dollar franchise twenty-nine years ago, the answer was an immediate no. "We're all waiting to see what they've done," Dave Jones remarked. Sitting next to him, Brian Baglow simply shook his head with a smile, making it clear he wasn't complaining: "I've got the pre-order."
Just like millions of players on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, the writer who helped establish the series' signature dark humor paid for a standard retail copy so he could pre-load the massive 212 GB file ahead of launch day. That global rush to download the game in advance has already propelled the title to become the most pre-ordered release in the history of both the PlayStation and Xbox digital storefronts.
From the 1997 Race'n'Chase Prototype to the Breakthrough Mechanic: "Just Getting Out of the Car"
Returning to Abertay University also gave the duo a chance to look back at how a small team in Dundee pieced together the 1997 original. Fresh off the success of Lemmings, DMA Design was experimenting with a top-down urban racing concept initially titled Race'n'Chase. Yet Jones knew the prototype needed a distinct hook to stand out.
"At DMA, we always wanted to do something different. What was the unique spin we could put on it? Part of the answer came in what feels like a premise gamers take for granted now: just getting out of the car. The idea of being able to not only drive, but switch and steal cars, running about on foot as you did so, meant all of a sudden you had this interesting mix of gaming coming together."
Dave Jones, Grand Theft Auto co-creator at DMA Design (speaking to the BBC in Dundee)
Originally, the Dundee team envisioned a symmetrical design where players could choose to play either as a law-abiding police officer or a career criminal. Jones quickly scrapped the police option once he realized enforcing rules "by the book" killed the pacing. "At some point we just said, you know what, it's way more fun playing the bad guy, so that's what the game was about," Jones recalled. That single pivot set in motion the complete Grand Theft Auto timeline across its three canonical universes before GTA 6, evolving from top-down 2D sprites into sprawling high-definition worlds.
Unlike Lemmings, the first Grand Theft Auto was a "slow burn" at retail because players had to experience its emergent sandbox firsthand to grasp the appeal. "For the whole of the year that GTA came out, it just kept going and selling and selling," Baglow explained. "And we reckoned it was the word of mouth. The people who had played it going, 'Oh my God, have you played this game?'" While its themes of street crime sparked fierce debates in the UK Parliament and calls for an outright ban, much of that outrage was deliberately engineered behind the scenes by publisher BMG Interactive as a viral marketing stunt, whereas the Dundee developers simply built mechanics they found entertaining.
Scottish Satire, Fake Radio Stations, and 29 Years of Industrial Evolution
Although the 1997 original looks modest next to the neon-drenched streets of the fictional state of Leonida (whose map, explored through dual protagonists Jason and Lucia, is expected to be twice the size of GTA V), the satirical blueprint forged in Dundee remains untouched. Working with a tight budget that ruled out expensive real-world car licenses or mainstream music catalogs, Baglow and the DMA Design team invented cheeky parody brands and fictional radio stations complete with original DJs and lyrics.
"It's the business names, it's the radio stations, it's the lyrics, it's the DJs," Baglow noted when asked what makes him proudest nearly three decades later. "Every part of that is making you believe that this environment you're in is a big cohesive whole." That outsider Scottish perspective lampooning American hyper-capitalism remains deeply ingrained at Rockstar North in Edinburgh today, as seen in Rob Nelson's recent comments regarding whether a future GTA could ever be set outside America after GTA 6.
| Feature | Grand Theft Auto (1997) | Grand Theft Auto VI (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Developer & Origin | DMA Design (small team in Dundee, Scotland) | Rockstar Games (Rockstar North Edinburgh + global studios) |
| Working Prototype / Setting | Race'n'Chase (cops-and-robbers top-down racer) | State of Leonida & Vice City (double the size of GTA V) |
| Playable Protagonists | 2D avatars (including 4 female characters in 1997) | Jason and Lucia (first 3D/HD era female lead) |
| File Size & Delivery | Tens of megabytes on CD-ROM (PC / PS1) | 212 GB digital pre-load on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S |
| Founders' Early Access | Built directly by Dave Jones, Brian Baglow & DMA | Zero early access; standard consumer pre-order |
Asked whether they ever wish they were still working on the series today given the unprecedented global spotlight surrounding November 19, both men expressed genuine contentment. "I think everybody loves having their time on it, for one, two, three versions, but eventually you want to go off and do other things as well," said Jones, attributing the series' universal appeal to the fact that it is grounded in everyday reality: "There's nothing you have to learn about it, as long as you know a city and driving." For Baglow, watching "the rest of the world fall in love with the game over the last 29 years has just been joyful. It means so much to so many people, it's been fantastic."
My Take
There is something equal parts hilarious and poetic about seeing Brian Baglow and Dave Jones sitting in a Dundee computer lab admitting they had to pre-order GTA 6 like every other gamer on Earth. Having grown up with that big-box 1997 PC release, with its frantic top-down camera, ringing street payphones, and hilarious fake radio stations cobbled together by a scrappy Scottish team at DMA Design, the contrast with Rockstar's modern corporate fortress in 2026 is staggering.
On one hand, it feels a bit cold that Take-Two and Rockstar wouldn't even send a VIP invite or an early copy to the two men without whom Leonida wouldn't exist in the first place. On the other hand, Jones and Baglow's reaction is pure class: zero bitterness, zero bruised ego, just the quiet pride of craftsmen who once had the simple yet revolutionary idea to let us press a button and step out of a car in the middle of traffic. When their 212 GB pre-load unlocks in Dundee on November 19, nobody will have earned that title screen more than they have.
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SEO consultant for over 20 years and digital entrepreneur, Charles "Grimtag" is the founder of Pro-Gamer.gg, Retrocharting.com, and Gamescharting.com. A competitive gamer, streamer, and retro game collector, he has worked in the video game industry for over 15 years, notably as a consultant for leading game price comparison platforms. Passionate about real-time performance data and gaming technology, he analyzes competitive esports, gaming hardware benchmarks, and creator workflows on Pro-Gamer.gg with an authentic player perspective.
