When asked if Rockstar Games ever considered taking Grand Theft Auto beyond the United States after the GTA III trilogy, Vermeij answers affirmatively. "We had ideas for GTA games set in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, and Istanbul," he says. "Tokyo almost became a reality. Another studio in Japan was going to develop it [...] but in the end, the project didn't go ahead." Vermeij says that people love to have outlandish ideas, but when billions of dollars are at stake, it's very easy to revert to what you already know how to do.
Furthermore, Vermeij believes that the United States is the epicenter of Western culture, so everyone is familiar with its cities even if they haven't visited them. "Everyone has a mental image of the cities," he adds. The developer considers it highly unlikely that a GTA game will ever leave the United States, as he believes it doesn't make sense to set it in a less familiar location just for the sake of novelty. "GTA Toronto? It simply wouldn't work," he asserts. About 20 years ago, Take-Two even trademarked the names GTA: Bogota and GTA: Tokyo.
And what about the Old Continent? Vermeij was presented with the idea of a GTA set in Europe, either in London, like in a Grand Theft Auto expansion, or encompassing the entire continent to explore different criminal underworlds. In this case, he says it's not a realistic option, although he admits he'd love it. "[...] if games still took a year to develop, then yes, sure, you could have some fun, but this isn't going to happen when a GTA comes out every 12 years," the developer commented. His prediction is that Rockstar Games will revisit New York, Los Angeles, or perhaps Las Vegas. "I'm afraid we're stuck in a loop of about five American cities," he added.
These days, a new Grand Theft Auto installment costs many years and hundreds of millions of dollars, so in Vermeij's opinion, it's extremely unlikely that Take-Two would decide to risk a game set outside the United States.
news.instant-gaming.com
