Almost always confined to the United States, GTA players today dream of seeing the franchise exported to other territories. And it turns out that it almost happened.
Next year, it is under the sun and the palm trees of Leonida that millions of players will undoubtedly spend the last weeks of 2026, busy exploring every corner of this version made in Rockstar of Florida. Because yes, as tradition dictates, it is once again on the side of the United States and its numerous excesses that GTA 6 will leave its baggage, like what the license has almost always done. Even if, as a former developer at the studio just told us, that almost wasn’t the case.
GTA in Japan almost became a reality
Indeed, if we remove the presence of GTA: London 1969 and London 1961, which both served as extensions to the first opus, Rockstar’s franchise has always made the United States its favorite location. A choice which, as Dan Houser explained last month, was due to the fact that a license like GTA necessarily needs certain prerequisites to function. However, this did not prevent the studio from considering other destinations throughout its history, as revealed by Obbe Vermeij in the columns of Gameshub.
“There were desires” indeed confirmed the former technical director of Rockstar North, who notably had the opportunity to work on opuses like GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas and GTA 4. « We had ideas for GTA games in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow and Istanbul. Tokyo almost saw the light of day. Another Japanese studio was going to take charge, take our code and create GTA: Tokyo. But in the end, it didn’t happen »confides the developer. Enough to frustrate many players, therefore, many of whom have certainly dreamed of a GTA in Japan for a long time.
Unfortunately, Vermeij does not specify the reasons which could have led the project to fall through, nor even the studio which would have been in charge of it if it had seen the light of day. « People love coming up with these crazy ideas, but when there are billions of dollars at stake, it’s too easy to fall back on what you already know » he simply adds, before specifying that the United States represents in any case “the epicenter of Western culture”. “Everyone knows the cities, even those who have never been there. They have a mental image of these cities”.
A license condemned to remain in the United States?
For the developer, therefore, suffice to say that it is not tomorrow that Rockstar will risk exploring new areas, particularly given the budgets committed to its latest productions. « I think it is unlikely that [GTA] or in Bogota next time, especially since the project is growing and involving more and more money. It makes no sense to set it in an exotic location just for the sake of novelty. GTA:Toronto? It just wouldn’t work »estime Vermeij.
However, he himself would be delighted to be able to venture into new territories, whether it be Asia or Europe for example. But in an era where thirteen long years separate games like GTA 5 and GTA 6, this is simply not “not realistic” in his eyes. “You’re not going to be in a new place. You don’t really need it because technology evolves so quickly. No one is going to say they won’t play GTA 6 because they already played Vice City.assures the ex-employee of Rockstar North.
And given the enthusiasm generated by GTA 6 since its announcement, it is particularly difficult to prove him wrong. But does this mean that the franchise is condemned to alternating between the same locations between each episode? That’s what Vermeij thinks. “They will revisit New York again. They will return to Los Angeles or maybe Las Vegas. I’m afraid we’re stuck in this loop of about five American cities. Let’s just get used to it.”he concludes, not without fatality. Is he right, is he wrong? The future will tell us.
Source : Gameshub
