Developer recreates the Capital Region in GTA style

Software developer Haukur Rósinkranz has built a three-dimensional, GTA-inspired recreation of the Capital Region in less than two weeks. The browser game, called Sýndarvík, is now available to explore, mbl.is reports.

Players can walk, swim, drive cars, fly planes and helicopters, sail boats and parachute from buildings. They can also steal cars and listen to Icelandic radio stations. The game features traffic, birds, changing weather, a day-and-night cycle and people who speak when approached.

“This had actually been a dream for a long time,” Haukur told mbl.is. He said many people who played GTA as children had probably wondered what it would be like to play the game in Reykjavík.

Haukur used artificial intelligence to help build the game. To make the recreation as accurate as possible, he drew on map data from several sources and used AI to analyse Google Street View images for details about buildings. OpenStreetMap data helped him map streets, traffic lights and other landmarks. Street and shop names are among the details featured in Sýndarvík.

Haukur has worked in software development for nearly 13 years, including at mbl.is. He studied computer science at Reykjavík University, pursued postgraduate studies in Sweden and has worked on his own startup since 2020. He said he had never made a video game before and was surprised by how quickly he could create it.

The Grand Theft Auto series began in 1997 and has become one of the world’s most popular video game franchises. Its sixth main instalment is due in November, after several delays. Haukur said he was looking forward to GTA VI and hoped the anticipation around it would help bring attention to Sýndarvík. A Reddit feature about the game had drawn thousands of views, according to mbl.is.