Featured Image Credit: Rockstar Games
Topics: GTA, Grand Theft Auto, GTA 5, GTA 6, GTA Online, Rockstar Games
Topics: GTA, Grand Theft Auto, GTA 5, GTA 6, GTA Online, Rockstar Games
The Grand Theft Auto series goes hand-in-hand with America and the satire it inspires, but at one point Rockstar Games was contemplating shifting cities in favour of Tokyo.
This comes from an unnamed source who reportedly worked for Rockstar Games around the time of the third game.
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They spoke to TimeExtension about the possible spin-off after files were found referencing the game during the huge GTA VI leak.
The ex-staffer, who likely can’t be named due to the incredibly tight NDAs Rockstar Games reportedly places on their staff, said there was once talk of taking GTA to Japan.
When talking about co-founder Sam Houser, the source said, “He had just released GTA 3 back then and they were doing a lot of travel to Tokyo back then to promote the game,”
The source continues, “It seemed like a cool, interesting city to do it in, but at the end of the day, it just came down to logistics.”
Those logistics included sending a team out to Tokyo to map the city and research the cultural differences.
Of course, a big part of GTA is the previously mentioned satire, which would have been much harder in a game based in Japan.
The source ends with, “Making those things connect was a little tough and we thought it was just cooler to stick with the cities that were introduced in Grand Theft Auto 1.”
This makes sense in so many ways, but it doesn’t stop us from lamenting what could have been.
When the news was reported on Reddit, one user said, “I took it as we were robbed from getting a Yakuza game from Rockstar.”
However, with SEGA heading up the Yakuza franchise, it’s also likely that Rockstar wouldn’t have wanted to step on any toes as they nail the crime, culture, and humour of Japan perfectly.