A former senior designer at Rockstar Games has suggested that a planned fifth installment in the Midnight Club racing series was canceled because the franchise was not considered as significant as Grand Theft Auto.
According to Kris Roberts, who worked on the series at Rockstar San Diego, development on Midnight Club 5 had begun after the release of Midnight Club: Los Angeles. The team had even started prototyping new environments, including London. However, the project was halted during its early stages.
Roberts indicated that there were "non-trivial conflicts" between Rockstar San Diego and the company's New York office. While acknowledging that previous deadlines on the Midnight Club games had been missed, he stated that the racing series did not receive the same level of recognition as Grand Theft Auto. "The perception was we never got the accolades or the reception," Roberts explained. "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. It was challenging."
He also noted that Midnight Club maintained strong player engagement, surpassing competitors like Need for Speed and Burnout, but this was insufficient to secure the franchise's future. The cancellation of Midnight Club 5 signaled to many within the studio that the series was unlikely to return, leading staff to transition to work on Red Dead Redemption or other Rockstar projects.
"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," Roberts said.
Some fans have expressed concerns that Rockstar Games has not diversified its output sufficiently since the release of Grand Theft Auto V. While a sequel to Red Dead Redemption was a logical follow-up, it has resulted in a prolonged focus on the GTA and Red Dead franchises for over a decade. This has led to speculation that unique, smaller-scale titles like Bully, L.A. Noire, and Midnight Club may not be revisited.
Rockstar is set to publish two Max Payne remakes developed by Remedy, though release dates for these titles are not yet confirmed. It remains uncertain whether Rockstar will revive dormant franchises or pursue new projects following the release of Grand Theft Auto VI.