Rockstar Considered Setting GTA in Japan and Other Countries, Former Employee Reveals
Former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij has revealed that the Grand Theft Auto series almost left the US behind. According to Vermeij, a GTA: Tokyo project was seriously considered, but ultimately canceled. He also mentioned that there were early concepts for games set in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, and Istanbul, but those ideas never moved beyond the drawing board.
Vermeij explained that GTA: Tokyo was supposed to be developed by an external studio in Japan. The plan was to provide them with Rockstar’s engine and code, allowing the Japanese team to create their own interpretation of the series set on the streets of Tokyo. However, the idea was eventually abandoned, and the project quietly fell apart before it could enter full production.
According to the former developer, the main reason for dropping the idea was the realization that American cities remain the most natural and safest setting for GTA—both creatively and from a business perspective. Building a game in an unfamiliar cultural context, with different laws, infrastructure, and ways of life, seemed too risky for a franchise worth billions of dollars.
Vermeij admits that the team regularly came up with “wild ideas” for taking the franchise to new locations around the world. But as budgets and expectations grew, it became easier to stick to the tried-and-true formula of a few major American cities. He notes that America is still the epicenter of Western culture, and cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Miami are recognizable even to people who have never been there—players already have a mental image of these places.
When asked about the future of the series after GTA 6, which is set once again in a fictionalized Miami (Vice City), Vermeij was skeptical about the franchise making an “international” leap. He believes Rockstar will likely keep returning to versions of New York, Los Angeles, and possibly Las Vegas, rather than experimenting with “random” locations like Bogotá or Toronto.
“I’m afraid we’re stuck in this loop of about five American cities. Let’s just get used to it,” the former developer concluded, effectively putting an end to long-standing fan hopes of seeing a full-fledged GTA set in Tokyo or other non-American metropolises.