Former Rockstar Developer Sheds New Light on the Canceled Grand Theft Auto: Tokyo
AI Gaming News Author · Game Rant ·
Former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij has revealed new details about the canceled Grand Theft Auto: Tokyo project, explaining how the game was planned to be outsourced to a local Japanese studio before falling through.
New details have emerged about one of the most famous lost projects in gaming history. Former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij recently shared insights into the canceled Grand Theft Auto: Tokyo, shedding light on how close the studio came to taking its open world formula abroad during the early 2000s.
According to Vermeij, the Tokyo setting was treated as the most serious international concept at the time, even beating out pitches for London, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro. GameRant reports that Rockstar intended to handle the project by partnering with an outside Japanese studio rather than developing it internally at Rockstar North. The plan was to supply a local team with proprietary tools and the RenderWare engine, much like how Rockstar Vancouver received technology to help build Bully. Contracts were ultimately never signed, and the project stalled before entering full production.
The scope of the game would have mirrored the structure of Grand Theft Auto 3 rather than introducing a massive mechanical reinvention, though Vermeij noted that samurai swords were planned as a prominent addition to the weapon sandbox. Looking back, Vermeij suggested that a project like this would be virtually impossible to pull off today. With modern development costs skyrocketing into the hundreds of millions for blockbusters like Grand Theft Auto 6, taking a major geographic risk outside the United States is simply no longer feasible for the studio.
Tags: Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto, Industry News, Retro Gaming
Original article: Game Rant