The Grand Theft Auto series almost took players far beyond the United States, according to former Rockstar Games technical director Obbe Vermeij. In a recent interview with Gameshub published earlier this week, Vermeij revealed that Rockstar once explored the idea of setting future GTA titles in international locations such as Rio de Janeiro, Moscow and Istanbul.
One project even progressed further than the rest. A version of GTA: Tokyo was reportedly in development, with plans for a Japanese studio to build the game using Rockstar's internal technology. Ultimately, however, the project was shelved before it could move beyond early planning.
According to him, American cities provide an instantly recognisable backdrop for global audiences. Even players who have never visited the US have a strong cultural understanding of places like New York, Los Angeles or Miami thanks to decades of film, television and music.
"When you're dealing with projects of this scale, people naturally fall back on what they know will work," Vermeij suggested. "American cities are familiar to everyone, and that familiarity reduces risk."
He argued that even if players might be excited by the idea of cities such as Bogotá or Toronto, those locations lack the immediate cultural shorthand that American cities offer. In his view, the series is now effectively locked into a cycle of revisiting a handful of US-inspired locations.
He summed it up bluntly: players are unlikely to skip a new GTA simply because they have seen the city before. The technology, storytelling and scale evolve so dramatically between releases that the setting feels new regardless.
According to Houser, the exaggerated crime, firearms, and larger-than-life characters central to GTA are intrinsically tied to a distinctly American worldview. Moving the franchise overseas, he suggested, would dilute what makes it work.