Rockstar has said that players won’t have immediate access to all three of Grand Theft Auto V’s playable characters from the get-go.
President of Rockstar North Leslie Benzies told Jeuxactu.com (via a translation provided by Google) that offering up the trio on a plate from the start of the game would prove detrimental to the core experience.
However, by introducing each one over a period of time, it allows players to “explore the world of each of them.”
"Much of the game relies on the three characters and the way in which the lifestyle and actions of one affect the other two," explained Benzies. "We think of the three characters from the start but we thought that it would hurt the gameplay and the story. We want to give the player the opportunity to know the three characters individually and explore the world of each of them, and it would not have been possible if the three had been available from the start."
While you won’t have access to all three anti-heroes from the start, GTA V’s massive game world is ripe for the picking, with players able to explore every inch of it from the beginning. Michael, Trevor and Franklin can also meet up between missions.
"You can meet each character if you know where they are," added Imran Sarwar, GTA V’s lead designer. "For example, if Michael leaves after a mission and you play Trevor, you can go to meet him. You can also force things, if you wish, from one character to another and make them meet. They can then become friends and spend time together. We thought to make the characters appear on the map to be able to follow the day to day in the city, but we chose to focus our efforts on the system of interchangeable characters."
GTA V is scheduled for release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 17.