GTA: Moscow Was Almost a Thing Says Ex-Rockstar Dev - as Well as Tokyo and Rio

Former 'Grand Theft Auto' Dev Says New Locations "Just Not Realistic" Due To Modern Demands, Predicts Series Will Stay "Stuck In This Loop Of About Five American Cities"

In offering a bleak and unfortunately probable read of the franchise’s future, former Rockstar Games technical director Obbe Vermeij believes that thanks to the ever-evolving standards of modern video game development expectations, Grand Theft Auto will likely never take a genuine trip outside of its Liberty City-Vice City-Los Santos-and-soon-to-include-Leonida comfort zone. Lucia (TBA) is released from prison in Grand Theft Auto VI (2026), Rock…

GTA: Moscow was almost a thing says ex-Rockstar dev - as well as Tokyo and Rio

A former Rockstar Games developer has revealed there were plans to make GTA spin-offs set in Moscow, Tokyo, Istanbul, and more.

GTA in Tokyo "Almost Actually Happened"

But it would have been made by another studio.

Rockstar Nearly Made a GTA Game in a Highly-Requested Setting

Rockstar Games nearly took Grand Theft Auto overseas to a highly-requested setting with a whole other developer.

We Almost Could've Had Grand Theft Auto Games Set in Tokyo, Istanbul, Rio De Janeiro, and Moscow

The Grand Theft Auto series is known for always being set in a fictional version of cities in the United States. Liberty City is Rockstar's version of New York, Vice City is Miami, Los Santos is Los Angeles, and so on. At the core of the series has always been its parody of US culture, which is part of why each game has remained in the US. That said, according to a former Rockstar developer, we were close to seeing an entirely different version …