a single-player story revolving around three lead protagonists was one of "grand theft auto v"s earliest design objectives. garbut felt that such a deviation from the gameplay's core structure was a risk, and recalled team concern that a departure from "grand theft auto"s traditional, single lead character set-up "might backfire". early game conceptualisations would have told three separate stories through different protagonists. later, "grand theft auto iv"s stories inspired the concept that story trajectories would meet throughout the game. eventually, the concept evolved into three interconnected stories that intertwined through the missions. according to benzies, the team made the multiple character formula "integral to the structure of the gameplay as well as the narrative". houser opined that "grand theft auto v" is their "strongest plotted game because the characters are so intertwined" and that the "meeting points [between the characters' stories] are very exciting".