{"id":23048,"date":"2025-12-26T02:50:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T18:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=23048"},"modified":"2025-12-26T02:50:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T18:50:38","slug":"were-stuck-in-this-loop-of-5-american-cities-lets-just-get-used-to-it-former-rockstar-dev-reveals-gta-tokyo-almost-actually-happened-but-fell-by-the-wayside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=23048","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;We&#8217;re Stuck in This Loop of 5 American Cities. Let&#8217;s Just Get Used to It&#8217; \u2014 Former Rockstar Dev Reveals GTA: Tokyo &#8216;Almost Actually Happened&#8217; but Fell by the Wayside"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">For years Grand Theft Auto fans have wondered whether Rockstar might take the franchise out of its traditional America setting into cities in other countries. But according to one former developer, that\u2019s never going to happen \u2014 and fans just need to accept it.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">In an interview with Gameshub, former Rockstar Games technical director Obbe Vermeij, who worked at the company from 1995 to 2009, said there were \u201cideas\u201d about post-Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City GTA games set in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, and Istanbul, but it was GTA: Tokyo that \u201calmost actually happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">According to Vermeij, who left Rockstar just after finishing GTA 4, another studio in Japan was going to take Rockstar\u2019s code and develop GTA: Tokyo (Vermeij didn\u2019t say which studio). \u201cBut then that didn\u2019t happen in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-video\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Why? It sounds like Rockstar came to the realization that American cities are the natural and best setting for GTA, and given it takes so long to release new games in the series, going international is too big of a risk.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cPeople love having these wild ideas but then when you\u2019ve got billions of dollars riding on it it\u2019s too easy to go let\u2019s do what we know again, and also America is basically the epicenter of Western culture, so everybody knows the cities, even people who haven\u2019t been there,\u201d Vermeij said. \u201cThey have a mental image of the cities.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cI think it\u2019s unlikely it\u2019s going to be in Bogota next time, especially since there\u2019s just more and more money involved as the project gets bigger. It doesn\u2019t make sense to set it in some left-field location for novelty. GTA: Toronto? It just wouldn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-slideshow\"><button type=\"button\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"jsx-2228525885\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\">\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">GTA 6 Vice City Screenshots<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2021719738 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"\/><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">GTA 6 is of course set to return to Vice City, the GTA series\u2019 fictionalized take on Miami, Florida. But then what? Will Rockstar ever take GTA international and set it across mainland Europe or in London?<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cIt\u2019s just not realistic,\u201d Vermeij countered. \u201cI would love it, and if games still took a year to make then yeah sure, you can have a little fun, but you\u2019re not going to get that when there\u2019s a GTA every 12 years. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cYou\u2019re not going to set it in a new location. You don\u2019t really need to either because the technology changes so much. Nobody is going to say that they\u2019re not going to play GTA 6 because they\u2019ve already played Vice City. That doesn\u2019t make sense. It\u2019s completely different. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cThey\u2019ll revisit New York again. They\u2019ll go back to LA or maybe Las Vegas. I\u2019m afraid we\u2019re stuck in this loop of about five American cities. Let\u2019s just get used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Vermeij\u2019s comments here echo those of Rockstar co-founder and former boss Dan Houser, who recently explained why the Grand Theft Auto series won\u2019t leave the United States in terms of its setting.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Speaking on <u>the Lex Fridman podcast<\/u>, Houser said that \u2014 GTA London apart \u2014 Grand Theft Auto remained firmly rooted in the United States because it leans so heavily on Americana.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cWe made a little thing in London 26 years ago \u2014 GTA London \u2014 for the top-down for PS1. That was pretty cute and fun, as the first mission pack ever for PlayStation 1. I think for a full GTA game, we always decided there was so much Americana inherent in the IP, it would be really hard to make it work in London or anywhere else.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cYou know, you needed guns, you needed these larger-than-life characters. It just felt like the game was so much about America, possibly from an outsider&#8217;s perspective. But that was so much about what the thing was that it wouldn&#8217;t really have worked in the same way elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"tierlist-view-trigger\">\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" id=\"every-rockstar-game-tier-list\" data-cy=\"every-rockstar-game-tier-list\">\n<div class=\"card jsx-1339469126 jsx-1355461925 box jsx-2627838217\">\n<div class=\"stack jsx-3547261442 jsx-2986308351\">\n<div class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-4269505506 TierListHeader_header__xyy5a\">\n<div class=\"stack jsx-3647836811 jsx-4269505506 TierListHeader_title__UxzQx\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ign-icon icon-tier-list jsx-2750866048 jsx-1879929830\" role=\"img\" aria-hidden=\"false\" data-cy=\"icon-tier-list\" alt=\"Tier List\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/TierList.c19f1c86.svg\"\/><\/p>\n<h3 data-cy=\"title3\" class=\"title3 jsx-12333944 jsx-2321054750 TierListHeader_full__J6p2u\">Every Rockstar Game Tier List<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-957202555 TierListHeader_compact__7JWp1 balanced\">Every Rockstar Game Tier List<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Indeed, such is GTA\u2019s relationship with America, built up over the course of its many video games, that a University of Tennessee history professor will teach a GTA college history class early in 2026. <u>Professor Tore Olsson recently told IGN<\/u>: \u201cVideo games are great at conjuring fictional worlds, but they also impact players\u2019 thinking about real-world times and places. And just as Red Dead Redemption 2 has shaped folks\u2019 perception of the nineteenth-century American West or Ghost of Tsushima has informed their vision of feudal Japan, millions of people around the globe imagine contemporary America through the lens of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Just think of how many GTA veterans have recognized landmarks in Los Angeles and New York thanks to their hours in Los Santos and Liberty City!\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Houser\u2019s position on GTA is similar to that of the creators of post-apocalyptic role-playing game series Fallout, which has also remained in the United States. Last year, <u>Bethesda development chief Todd Howard ruled out leaving the U.S. behind for a future Fallout video game<\/u>, saying he\u2019s a big fan of the \u201cAmericana naivete\u201d that informs so much of Fallout\u2019s tone.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/were-stuck-in-this-loop-of-5-american-cities-lets-just-get-used-to-it-former-rockstar-dev-reveals-gta-tokyo-almost-actually-happened-but-fell-by-the-wayside\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For years Grand Theft Auto fans have wondered whether Rockstar might take the franchise out of its traditional America setting into cities in other countries&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[295,1922,4140,5043,3402,777,1972,14212,535,3400,2995,8103,14213],"class_list":["post-23048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-american","tag-cities","tag-dev","tag-fell","tag-gta","tag-happened","tag-lets","tag-loop","tag-reveals","tag-rockstar","tag-stuck","tag-tokyo","tag-wayside","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}