A Tokyo-based GTA game was once in the works, but Rockstar ultimately decided against this neon-soaked open-world concept.
The Grand Theft Auto series has become one of the most successful and influential franchises in video game history, but the path to its current status was far from straightforward. A recent deep dive into Rockstar Games' history has revealed a stash of canceled projects, alternate versions, and "what if" scenarios that paint a fascinating picture of how the series could have evolved differently.
One of the most intriguing revelations (thanks to Time Extension) is that Rockstar seriously considered setting a GTA game in Tokyo. In the early 2000s, fresh off the success of GTA III, Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser was reportedly "caught up with the Tokyo scene" during promotional trips to Japan.
The idea of the Yakuza and a neon-soaked open world was alluring, but ultimately proved too logistically challenging. The research required to accurately map the city and create culturally appropriate satire was deemed too daunting, leading Rockstar to stick with fictional American cities.
Before GTA went 3D, there was a brief flirtation with a very different direction. A tech demo dubbed "Godzilla Takes Manhattan" was developed for the Dreamcast, allowing players to stomp around a city as a giant monster. While this kaiju concept never materialized into a full game, elements of its 3D city technology would later influence GTA III's development.
Consoles have become the go-to platform for Rockstar, partly because bringing GTA to handheld systems proved to be a particularly bumpy road. An early attempt to create a Game Boy Advance version with publisher Destination Software fizzled out quickly.
A more promising project with UK developer Crawfish Interactive made considerable progress, aiming to tell a prequel story to GTA III. However, Crawfish's financial troubles and eventual closure in 2002 derailed the project. While a GBA Grand Theft Auto would eventually release, it was a very different game developed by Digital Eclipse.
Even successful GTA releases weren't immune to canceled content. GTA V was originally planned to receive substantial single-player DLC expansions, similar to GTA IV's "The Lost and Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony."
Teasers hinted at continuing the adventures of Michael, Franklin, and Trevor, with datamined files suggesting storylines involving "Agent Trevor," a zombie apocalypse, and an alien invasion. However, the massive success of GTA Online shifted Rockstar's priorities, and these story expansions were quietly shelved — but hints of their content survived in updates for Online.
More recently, Rockstar announced in 2021 that a VR version of GTA: San Andreas was in development for the Meta Quest 2 headset. Described as "years in the making," the project promised to let players experience the beloved game world in an entirely new way.
However, after years of silence, Meta confirmed last month in an email that the project had been put "on hold indefinitely," leaving fans disappointed after having to patiently wait for three years. For those of you who wanted a go at hot coffee in first person, it's still just mods...
While these unreleased projects might seem like missed opportunities, in a real sense, they prove that Rockstar only releases games that meet its high standards. The canceled Tokyo game led to a deeper focus on creating fictional American cities, allowing for greater creative freedom. The struggles with handheld development likely informed future mobile strategies, leading to ports of 3D-era GTA games to smartphones and tablets.
Rockstar Games is now solely focused on GTA 6, and it's certainly fascinating to consider how these alternate paths and abandoned ideas might influence the series' future — be it with cherry picked features and ideas, or with mistakes the developers now know to avoid.
Will we see concepts from canceled expansions reworked into the new game? Could VR support eventually become a reality? We surely hope so, but even if these ideas don't get implemented, we can rest assured that Rockstar will get the job done the best way possible.
