Rockstar Games employees were working on an official Midnight Club 5, but the game was scrapped to push more workers onto Grand Theft Auto.
Former employee Kris Roberts confirmed in a discussion with podcaster Kiwi Talkz for Insider Gaming that Rockstar San Diego was working on a fifth game in the racing series. Similar to games like Bully 2, Rockstar scrapped the game as it would take resources away from Grand Theft Auto, presumably GTA V at the time.
According to Roberts, Midnight Club 5 was to be set in London, offering a uniquely British take on the street racing scene, although other maps could have been added as well. “When I left, the core Midnight Club team continued to develop,” he said. “I think they had even had some prototype cities; I kind of recall London was the one they were doing map development and stuff for. There was effort, and they were starting, and they were starting Midnight Club 5, or whatever they were going to call it, but it didn’t last, and it was canceled.”
Roberts explained that the reception for prior Midnight Club games, while beloved now, wasn’t high enough for Rockstar compared to Red Dead Redemption and GTA. “The perception was we never got the accolades or the reception,” he said. “The New York perspective was, ‘You’re not GTA’. When you’re the red-headed stepchild project, you know, we’re doing a good job, we’re world class, but we’re still treated less than.”
According to the developer, this was a monumental turn for Rockstar, and working at the company “was challenging”. Everything became AAA award-winning experiences or nothing at all. “When they cancelled it, it was pretty clear that there would be no more Midnight Club and everything was going to be GTA and stuff moving forward. And that’s just the way it was going to be.”
Today, Midnight Club is still dead. While elements of the racing franchise were injected into GTA V’s driving physics, the series is completely dormant, alongside pretty much every other Rockstar property. No Bully, no Manhunt, no Table Tennis. (What I wouldn’t give for another Rockstar Table Tennis.)
Nevertheless, Rockstar’s games are still major sellers with the upcoming GTA 6 already breaking pre-order records. Launching later this year, the upcoming open world game is expected to be the biggest entertainment launch in history despite the game’s console-only release. With GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 making up two of the best-selling games already, Rockstar is going to make a metric s***tonne of money.
