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Does this interest you? I think it goes against the whole point of the GTA experience which is inherently narcissistic in its appeal. In the Grand Theft Auto games, the player - the single player - takes an escalating position of power within a universe that effectively revolves around their actions. Every other character in the game is a puppet of your narrative journey - it feels good, it's fun; it's Brian De Palma re-filming Scarface around you as you blast down sun-drenched boulevards idly selecting your next victims, a Nietzschean Übermensch, devoid of pity, suffering or tolerance for the weak.

Now imagine a GTA with thousands of people all trying to live the same dream. It would be a nightmare - the streets filled with joyriding maniacs, smashing Dodge Chargers through shop windows, machine gunning everyone in sight. Total anarchy. Sure, that sounds like perfect GTA fodder, but then the beauty of the games is often the thrill of subverting an otherwise functioning urban environment - where's the fun in riding motorcycles into the ocean if everyone else is doing it? And beyond the free-roaming sandbox layout, there's always a strong story to add shape and purpose - it's a story about one character. One. Do you want to be in a whole guild of Armani-clad, PCP-snorting gangsta numbskulls? Think about it. No, I mean really think about it.

Of course, an MMOG that takes place in a similar sort of crime universe as the GTA games could work, but it wouldn't be GTA as we know it - it would be a faintly recognisable brand extension. Plus, as CVG points out, isn't this concept already covered by Realtime Worlds' forthcoming APB?

Houser apparently calls the prospect of a subscription-based massively multiplayer GTA, the 'Holy Grail'. He doesn't mean that in terms of gameplay experience, though, he means it in a financial sense. By 'Holy Grail', he means 'unbelievable cash cow'.

Look at WoW. Ten million players. Imagine all of 'em in Liberty City, trying to out gang each other. Imagine farming coke for days on end to buy a shotgun. Imagine the endless, pointless gun battles. Imagine... wait don't go glassy-eyed on me, this is not a good idea!