Grand Theft Auto 5's trio inspired by GTA 4 DLC storyline crossover

"It was partly just to do something totally new," Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser told the Guardian about the use of three separate protagonists in Grand Theft Auto 5. "Partly, too, it was because at that point we were deep into the work on the two DLC episodes of GTA IV, and we thought, well, the bits where all the stories cross over is kind of cool, so why don't we just do that in one game? So okay, let's just do multiple characters."

The storyline of the game – and remember, GTA games have storylines when you're not just trying to jump motorcycles over buildings or create impressive piles of exploded fire trucks – follows a series of five to six "mega-heists" (the Guardian's term), and three characters who are all involved with the jobs, and with each other.

In fact, the protagonists spend more time hanging out together than with other NPCs, Houser said. "If you're playing as Michael and you want to play a game of tennis, you can call up Franklin and ask him. You are actually getting to see the main bulk of the story and also spend time with these people off-mission – that side of it gives it a vibrancy that's a lot stronger than with [Grand Theft Auto 4's] Roman or anyone else."