A GTA: Tokyo Was On the Cards Before It Got Canceled

GTA has teased loads of "what if" ideas over the years, but this one's a proper sliding-doors moment: GTA: Tokyo nearly become a real project. According to former Rockstar North Technical Director Obbe Vermeij, the plan involved a studio Japan building a Tokyo entry with Rockstar's existing game code. Then it just...didn't happen.

What “GTA: Tokyo” was meant to be

The claim comes from Obbe Vermeij, who worked as technical director across major GTA titles (including GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA IV). He says Tokyo was closer than most people would assume.

• The location discussed: Tokyo, Japan
• The approach: an external studio in Japan would build it
• The tech: they’d take Rockstar’s code and make GTA: Tokyo
• The ending: the plan fell apart, for reasons he doesn’t know

That detail about “take our code” matters. It suggests this wasn’t Rockstar spinning up a full internal team for Tokyo. It was more like a trusted partner using Rockstar foundations — which is a very different bet than Rockstar doing it all themselves.

It wasn’t just Tokyo: Rio, Moscow, Istanbul too

Tokyo wasn’t the only non-US idea floating around. Vermeij says the team also talked about GTA games set in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, and Istanbul.

• Other locations mentioned: Rio, Moscow, Istanbul
• The general aim: taking GTA outside the US (at least in theory)

This lines up with a simple reality: creative teams pitch loads of settings. Most never make it past “sounds cool in a meeting”. Tokyo just happened to get further than the rest — and still didn’t cross the line.

Why GTA keeps returning to America

Vermeij’s explanation is less “Rockstar hates the rest of the world” and more “this is what the series is built to do”. GTA’s identity is tied to satirical takes on American cities — and the bigger the games get, the harder it is to justify a one-off location shift.

• Modern GTA-scale games take a long time to make
• If a GTA release cycle stretches to around a decade, you don’t waste effort on “side” settings
• He thinks Rockstar will revisit a familiar rotation (New York / LA / maybe Las Vegas)

His blunt summary: we’re probably “stuck” in a loop of a handful of American cities. Not because that’s exciting — because it’s realistic.

So what does this mean for GTA 6 (and beyond)?

VGC notes that GTA 6 is due to release next year.
And if Vermeij is right about the direction of travel, the long gaps between GTA releases make it even less likely Rockstar will risk a completely new country and culture to satirise at the same depth.

• Expect Rockstar to prioritise depth over novelty in location
• Don’t expect a globe-trotting GTA just because fans keep asking
• The “Tokyo” story is proof these ideas can be real — and still die quietly

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