The technical director of some of Rockstar’s biggest games, Obbe Vermeij, recently sat down for an interview, and he claimed GTA Tokyo almost happened.
In a new interview that was just released from GamesHub, the technical director responsible for some of Rockstar Games’ most successful titles (GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas and IV) Obbe Vermeij, sat down and gave a candid interview on his time working at Rockstar, and he offered a few glimpses into where Grand Theft Auto could have headed. While Grand Theft Auto has always been one of the most popular titles in gaming — especially where satirizing American pop culture and the greater United States is concerned — Vermeij suggests it could have been set overseas at a time.
While rumours come in all shapes and sizes, a Tokyo-based Grand Theft Auto was one. Fans have theorized for years (and have continued the conversation on forums like Reddit) that a Tokyo version of Rockstar’s flagship franchise could have happened, and Director Vermeij has now vindicated the fanbase. GTA Tokyo could have actually happened.
When asked whether Grand Theft Auto would ever go to a different location, potentially out of the USA, Vermeij said, “We had ideas about GTA games in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow and Istanbul. Tokyo almost actually happened. Another studio in Japan were going to do it, take our code and do GTA: Tokyo. But then that didn’t happen in the end.”
He explained the difficulty of setting the franchise outside of the USA, mentioning that even if fans hadn’t lived or been to any of the places featured in Grand Theft Auto (Liberty City being inspired by New York City), they would recognize the location. “Everybody knows the cities,” Vermeij says, and setting a franchise that breaks sales numbers outside of famous locations for “novelty” doesn’t make any sense. Vermeij continues with, “People love having these wild ideas but then when you’ve got billions of dollars riding on it, it’s too easy to go let’s do what we know again.”
Obbe Vermeij believes the Grand Theft Auto series will continue to cycle through roughly five major American cities because of its lengthy development timelines. With releases spaced so far apart, including titles such as Grand Theft Auto VI and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, advances in technology help refresh familiar locations and make each experience feel distinct. This remains true even when multiple entries draw inspiration from the same setting, such as Miami.
While it appears there were once ideas for an off-continent GTA Tokyo, sadly, those plans have been dashed, and it doesn’t appear (at least according to former director Vermeij) that GTA will be using a new location anytime soon.
