Entertainment · Gaming · 5 hrs ago
Rockstar seriously considered a Tokyo-set Grand Theft Auto
Former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij says Rockstar seriously considered a Tokyo-set Grand Theft Auto.
The plan included talks with an unnamed Japanese studio, though Vermeij does not know how close they came to an agreement.
Take-Two filed a GTA Tokyo trademark in 2003 and abandoned it in 2008.
The game would likely have been set in present-day Japan, with samurai swords, rather than in a historical period.
Rockstar was interested in adapting GTA for other cities, and the idea of a local studio made sense because the series had sold less strongly in Japan than in North America and Europe.
The Tokyo project was abandoned, and it is unclear whether Rockstar has revisited an overseas GTA since Vermeij left the company in 2009.
Rockstar seriously considered making a Grand Theft Auto game set in Tokyo, former technical director Obbe Vermeij said.
The plan involved negotiations with Japanese studios, but Vermeij did not know how close it came to happening.
The game was expected to be set in the present day and would have included samurai swords.
Take-Two Interactive filed a trademark for GTA Tokyo in 2003 and abandoned it in 2008.
Vermeij said a local studio could have helped the series appeal to Japanese players.
- Who
- Rockstar considered the project, and former technical director Obbe Vermeij discussed it.
- What
- The company considered a Tokyo-set Grand Theft Auto game, potentially made with a Japanese studio.
- When
- Take-Two filed a GTA Tokyo trademark in 2003 and abandoned it in 2008.
- Where
- Tokyo, Japan.
- Why
- Rockstar was interested in reaching Japanese players, where GTA was less successful than in North America and Europe.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Vermeij worked at Rockstar, including on the first four mainline 3D GTA games.
Take-Two Interactive filed a trademark for GTA Tokyo.
Take-Two abandoned the GTA Tokyo trademark.
Vermeij spoke to Rock Paper Shotgun about the abandoned project.
- Trademark filed
- 2003
- Trademark abandoned
- 2008
- Proposed setting
- Tokyo
- Former technical director
- Obbe Vermeij
- Vermeij's Rockstar tenure
- 1995–2009
What people are saying
It was definitely serious. It was the plan.
It definitely had samurai swords in it, I remember that, but I think it was present-day probably.
I think it would have been really cool, because you know, a GTA made by somebody else in Japanese culture – that's something I would probably play.