For years Grand Theft Auto followers have puzzled whether or not Rockstar would possibly take the franchise out of its conventional America setting into cities in different international locations. However in line with one former developer, that’s by no means going to occur — and followers simply want to just accept it.
In an interview with Gameshub, former Rockstar Video games technical director Obbe Vermeij, who labored on the firm from 1995 to 2009, stated there have been “concepts” about post-Liberty Metropolis, San Andreas, and Vice Metropolis GTA video games set in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, and Istanbul, but it surely was GTA: Tokyo that “nearly truly occurred.”
Based on Vermeij, who left Rockstar simply after ending GTA 4, one other studio in Japan was going to take Rockstar’s code and develop GTA: Tokyo (Vermeij didn’t say which studio). “However then that didn’t occur in the long run.”
Why? It seems like Rockstar got here to the belief that American cities are the pure and finest setting for GTA, and given it takes so lengthy to launch new video games within the collection, going worldwide is simply too massive of a threat.
“Individuals love having these wild concepts however then once you’ve obtained billions of {dollars} driving on it it’s too simple to go let’s do what we all know once more, and in addition America is principally the epicenter of Western tradition, so all people is aware of the cities, even individuals who haven’t been there,” Vermeij stated. “They’ve a psychological picture of the cities.
“I believe it’s unlikely it’s going to be in Bogota subsequent time, particularly since there’s simply increasingly cash concerned because the mission will get larger. It doesn’t make sense to set it in some left-field location for novelty. GTA: Toronto? It simply wouldn’t work.”
GTA 6 is in fact set to return to Vice Metropolis, the GTA collection’ fictionalized tackle Miami, Florida. However then what? Will Rockstar ever take GTA worldwide and set it throughout mainland Europe or in London?
“It’s simply not reasonable,” Vermeij countered. “I might find it irresistible, and if video games nonetheless took a yr to make then yeah positive, you may have just a little enjoyable, however you’re not going to get that when there’s a GTA each 12 years.
“You’re not going to set it in a brand new location. You don’t really want to both as a result of the expertise adjustments a lot. No person goes to say that they’re not going to play GTA 6 as a result of they’ve already performed Vice Metropolis. That doesn’t make sense. It’s fully totally different.
“They’ll revisit New York once more. They’ll return to LA or possibly Las Vegas. I’m afraid we’re caught on this loop of about 5 American cities. Let’s simply get used to it.”
Vermeij’s feedback right here echo these of Rockstar co-founder and former boss Dan Houser, who just lately defined why the Grand Theft Auto collection gained’t go away the USA when it comes to its setting.
Talking on the Lex Fridman podcast, Houser stated that — GTA London aside — Grand Theft Auto remained firmly rooted in the USA as a result of it leans so closely on Americana.
“We made just a little factor in London 26 years in the past — GTA London — for the top-down for PS1. That was fairly cute and enjoyable, as the primary mission pack ever for PlayStation 1. I believe for a full GTA recreation, we all the time determined there was a lot Americana inherent within the IP, it could be actually exhausting to make it work in London or anyplace else.
“You recognize, you wanted weapons, you wanted these larger-than-life characters. It simply felt like the sport was a lot about America, probably from an outsider’s perspective. However that was a lot about what the factor was that it would not actually have labored in the identical method elsewhere.”
Certainly, such is GTA’s relationship with America, constructed up over the course of its many video video games, {that a} College of Tennessee historical past professor will train a GTA faculty historical past class early in 2026. Professor Tore Olsson just lately instructed IGN: “Video video games are nice at conjuring fictional worlds, however in addition they impression gamers’ interested by real-world instances and locations. And simply as Pink Useless Redemption 2 has formed people’ notion of the nineteenth-century American West or Ghost of Tsushima has knowledgeable their imaginative and prescient of feudal Japan, tens of millions of individuals across the globe think about up to date America via the lens of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Simply consider what number of GTA veterans have acknowledged landmarks in Los Angeles and New York because of their hours in Los Santos and Liberty Metropolis!”
Houser’s place on GTA is just like that of the creators of post-apocalyptic role-playing recreation collection Fallout, which has additionally remained in the USA. Final yr, Bethesda growth chief Todd Howard dominated out leaving the U.S. behind for a future Fallout online game, saying he’s an enormous fan of the “Americana naivete” that informs a lot of Fallout’s tone.
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You’ll be able to attain Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].