GTA Tokyo almost existed — and it would’ve been made by a Japanese studio

GTA Tokyo “almost actually happened” – and that changes how we think about Rockstar’s risk tolerance

This caught my attention because GTA is one of those franchises that rarely admits to wild “what if” detours. Obbe Vermeij, a former Rockstar technical director, just confirmed that a Grand Theft Auto set in Tokyo was very close to happening – and shockingly, Rockstar had planned to hand its code to an external Japanese studio to build it. For GTA fans, that revelation is delicious and mildly heartbreaking: we were closer to a GTA outside the U.S. than anyone realized, and corporate caution killed it.

• Key takeaway: GTA Tokyo nearly entered development, likely using Rockstar’s existing codebase but built by a Japanese partner.
• Rockstar apparently floated other international ideas – Rio, Moscow, Istanbul — but executives chose American settings for safety and recognizability.
• This confirms Rockstar’s modern conservatism: billions on the line means “familiar” wins over creative risk.

Why this matters now

We care because open-world franchises are at a crossroads: big budgets push teams toward sequels and safe bets, while player appetite still craves novelty. Assassin’s Creed heading to feudal Japan and Forza Horizon’s expanding global map show other big series are willing to change scenery. That Rockstar almost outsourced a Tokyo take signals internal curiosity about global spins — but also that the studio’s execs ultimately preferred the safe, satirical lens of American cities everyone already pictures in their head.

Breaking down Vermeij’s reveal

Vermeij told GamesHub: “Tokyo almost actually happened. Another studio in Japan [was] going to do it, take our code and do GTA: Tokyo. But then that didn’t happen in the end.” This is the first substantive confirmation that GTA Tokyo moved beyond rumor into concrete planning. The production model — give code to a partner studio — is notable. It suggests Rockstar was considering reusing tech to lower risk and costs while letting a local team handle cultural nuance and implementation.

But it’s the follow-up comment that explains why the idea died: risk aversion. “When you’ve got billions of dollars riding on it it’s too easy to go ‘let’s do what we know again,’” Vermeij says. The lesson is blunt: scale breeds conservatism. Rockstar can afford to be bold creatively, but shareholders and franchise expectations make bold moves rare.

What GTA Tokyo might’ve been — and why that’s tantalizing

The idea of a GTA that satirizes Japanese urban life is fascinating because the franchise’s greatest strength is social satire. Imagine a Tokyo map designed around megacities like Shinjuku or Shibuya, missions riffing on corporate culture, pachinko parlors as seedy mini-games, and a soundtrack pulling from J-pop, city jazz and underground electronica. A Japanese partner could’ve lent authenticity — and also delivered a different comedic cadence than Rockstar’s usual American send-ups.

But the same strengths are potential liabilities. Satire doesn’t translate cleanly across cultures. There’s a tightrope between sharp parody and cultural insensitivity. Handing the game to a Japanese team might have mitigated that risk, but executives probably feared losing control of a brand where tone is everything.

Why Rockstar stayed in America

Vermeij points out that “America is basically the epicenter of Western culture” and that people have a ready mental image of its cities. That pragmatic logic is hard to argue with from a marketing perspective: a game set in familiar vistas sells better and is easier to promote worldwide. He also referenced longer development cycles making experimental locales less viable. If a studio spends a decade on a single entry (as modern triple-A often does), executives will favor universes they know will reliably move units.

I’ll add one contrarian note: Rockstar itself began outside the U.S. The first GTA shipped with London expansions in 1999 and the studio has Scottish roots. So it’s not creatively incapable of crossing cultural boundaries — it’s the modern commercial machine that’s more cautious.

What this means for gamers

For now, GTA fans will have to keep imagining Tokyo through mods and wishful thinking. The reveal is bittersweet: it proves Rockstar considered something exciting and very different, but also reminds us why big franchises move at a glacial, risk-averse pace. If you hunger for GTA in fresh settings, watch smaller studios and indie devs — they’re more likely to take the cultural and mechanical risks Rockstar won’t.

TL;DR

GTA Tokyo nearly reached development and would’ve been built by a Japanese studio using Rockstar’s code, according to ex-Rockstar technical director Obbe Vermeij. Executives pulled the plug in favor of safe, American locales because billions of dollars and global familiarity beat creative experimentation. It’s a reminder that big budgets often mean small decisions — and that some of the most interesting “almosts” in game history die behind conference-room caution.