Rockstar have always made up their cars imaginatively by combining two different reals cars and making up brand news like Pegassi. But do you think they would ever come get actual licensed cars and put them in the game? Games like Forza and Driveclub all have licenses where they can use real life cars in the game so why can't Rockstar do the same? It would be pretty cool to drive an actual Ferrari or Mercedes in the game.
Well, of course they would still have to bother with getting permission from various companies to use their brand in their game, and that would probably lead to them shelling out money to use it, so they opted to just invent their own car models instead..
The thing is, it can't be that expensive to get licenses from various companies to use their cars considering other companies are already doing it. Plus, Rockstar have probably made billions from their game so spending a bit for licenses can't be impacting their profit too much. I'm sure a lot of companies would gladly allow Rockstar to include their cars in the game for free, especially smaller ones who would like the exposure that a game like Grand Theft Auto would give them.
You got a point there, but I guess Rockstar wants to preserve their game and make everything there look original, including the cars. The cars that they invented are ok in general don't you think? Like the Cheetah or Infernus. They look quite sleek.
When it comes to anything that is represented or used in the game, I am betting that there is a lot of behind the scenes legal stuff going on that we do not see.
I wonder if the car companies allow the marketing inside the game. I have seen some of the game developers making money through brand promotions inside game. But never thought that it would be this easy. It is something to consider though.
It would cost them money to have licensed cars in-game, and they are clearly unwilling to do that. I don't mind the fictional cars, for what it's worth.
