A highly placed inside source operating under conditions of anonymity told us: "GTA 4 is being designed now by a team of five." The source also confirmed that the next GTA game on console - widely believed to be based in San Andreas - will be the last iteration in the present format. "Expect more of the same as Vice City for that, but GTA 4 will be completely different.

"The designers have basically looked at what they want to do and realised they cannot do it with current technology, so they're building it from scratch."

As a result "San Andreas" will mark the last use of the GTA3 engine. Unsurprisingly, it's believed Rockstar North is looking to the next-generation of hardware to realise its vision, with PS3 hotly-tipped by those in the know.