the game's central story theme is the "pursuit of the almighty dollar". missions follow the lead characters' efforts to plan and execute complicated heists to accrue wealth for themselves. the team focused on money as the central theme in response to the 2007–08 financial crisis, as its effects turn the main characters back to a life of crime. "we wanted this post-crash feeling, because it works thematically in this game about bank robbers", houser explained. the positive reaction to "grand theft auto iv"s "three leaf clover" missionin which an elaborate heist is coordinated and executed by lead protagonist niko bellic and accomplicesencouraged the team to develop the story around the heists. houser said that while "three leaf clover" was well-received, the team had not captured the thrill of the robbery to their best abilities and wanted "grand theft auto v" to achieve it. he explained, "we wanted to have a couple of really strong bank robberies ... it felt like that was a good device that we'd never used in the past. repeating ourselves is a fear when we're doing games where part of the evolution is just technological".