GTA Tokyo Was Close to Reality, But the Concept Ultimately Died: “A Unique Setting Isn’t Always Practical”

Got dreams of the Grand Theft Auto series taking a wild ride through Colombia or cruising the streets of Vienna? Time to temper those expectations. Former Rockstar technical director Obbe Vermeij has made it clear that such ideas are unlikely to materialize.

“It doesn’t make sense to set it in some offbeat location just for the sake of novelty. GTA: Toronto? It simply wouldn’t work,” Vermeij stated in a recent interview. Rockstar is likely not keen on introducing financial risks to a franchise that’s already raking in massive profits. “It’s just not realistic. I would love it, and if games still took a year to make, then sure, you could have a little fun, but that’s not the case with a new GTA every 12 years.”

Vermeij shared that there were once concepts for GTA games set in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, and Istanbul, with Tokyo almost becoming a reality. “Another studio in Japan was supposed to take our code and create GTA: Tokyo. But that ultimately fell through.”

With a franchise as lucrative as GTA, it’s tempting to stick with what works. The familiar vibes of Vice City are a safe bet, as “America is essentially the epicenter of Western culture, so everyone knows these cities, even those who haven’t visited. They have a mental image of them.”

“No one is going to skip out on GTA VI just because they’ve already explored Vice City. That logic doesn’t hold up,” Vermeij concluded. “They’ll revisit New York, return to LA, or maybe even hit Las Vegas again. It seems we’re stuck in a cycle of about five American cities. We might as well get used to it.”

As for the price tag of GTA 6, Vermeij suggests it likely won’t hit the $100 mark, thanks to the success of GTA Online: “This is just something that the internet has decided.”