Aside from stealing cars and going on rampages, there's one thing that connects the Grand Theft Auto series, and that's the United States of America. The series has never shied away from parodying and commenting on the country's culture and socio-political structure. While we've seen other games do the same for other countries, none of them hit the same spot as Rockstar's creations.
So, when the question of a GTA game set in another country arises, we can't help but feel that it's missing one of its most defining factors. Perhaps this is why the studio hasn't moved forward with plans to expand the series beyond the United States. A former Rockstar developer has revealed that the studio has almost moved on with GTA games set in other popular locations.
GTA almost went to Japan
In a chat with GamesHub (via Insider ), former technical director with Rockstar North, Obe Vermes, who worked on GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas, revealed that the studio is planning to build a GTA game set in Tokyo. Unfortunately, the plans never came to fruition, but there was talk of creating games for several major cities.
“We had ideas about GTA games in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow and Istanbul. Tokyo almost actually happened. Another studio in Japan was going to do it, take our code and do GTA: Tokyo. But in the end it didn't happen,” Vermes said. However, GTA has since cemented its American setting, and featuring other countries no longer seems possible.
What GTA 6's delay means for the games industry
The entire release calendar GTA 6 runs every time, so how does the latest delay affect everything?
“People love these wild ideas, but when you have billions of dollars, it's very easy to go, let's do what we know, and also, America is basically the epicenter of Western culture, so everybody knows cities, even people who haven't been there. They have a mental image of cities.
“I think it's unlikely to happen next time in Bogotá, especially as the project gets bigger and there's more and more money involved. It doesn't make sense to set it in some left-field location for the sake of novelty. GTA: Toronto? It won't work.”
