Slow down on Grand Theft Auto 5 “next-gen” rumors, Rockstar tweaks job ad

A few days ago, it was discovered that Rockstar Games, who is currently developing Grand Theft Auto 5, was running a job ad seeking environment artists "to get the most from next-gen consoles."

As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir in the gaming community – with many sites believing this meant GTA 5 was going to be released for a next-gen console like the unannounced Xbox 720 or PlayStation 4.  While I acknowledged that could be the case, I also reasoned that this could simply be referencing the Wii U, which some already consider to be a next-gen console.

Whatever the case, it looks like Rockstar has backtracked on their earlier description and has since removed any mention of the words "next-gen" in the updated job posting.

The description which originally read: "You will be designing, building and texturing the world, have the technical knowledge to achieve great looking results and the skill to get the most from next-gen consoles."

The new description now reads: "You will be designing, building and texturing the world and have the creative and technical knowledge to achieve the highest quality results within budget."

Given the hype that surrounded the original description, it's understandable why Rockstar would remove those words.  Any mention of the words "next-gen" these days spreads faster than the speed of light.

At this point, we don't know what Rockstar originally intended with that first description.  It very well could've been referencing the Wii U – especially if Grand Theft Auto 5 launches around the same time as the Wii U, which is expected to release sometime this year.  It also could've been Rockstar hiring for development on a different, unannounced game – something entirely different than Grand Theft Auto 5.  Remember, nothing in the original ad said GTA 5.

Or maybe it was just a big mistake all along.  We'll never know.