Rockstar Games almost took players to Japan in a PS2 Grand Theft Auto game. New details for GTA: Tokyo, which was eventually canceled, have now come to light. A former Rockstar Games director has shed light on the developer’s original plans for the open-world game.
Speaking with Thunderpick, former Rockstar Technical Director Obbe Vermeij dove into what would have been included in GTA: Tokyo. “Of all our ideas of where to take GTA next, and we had Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Istanbul, and London and Paris too, but Tokyo was the most serious one, and it was just going to be a GTA III-style game set in Tokyo,” Vermeij said.
He went on to reveal that, as expected, GTA: Tokyo would have included samurai swords, which would “play a big part.” One idea also included emphasizing Japan’s street racing. Vermeij also compared the canceled game to Bully, Rockstar’s controversial high-school adventure. The idea, as he says, was to have a Japanese studio develop the game, and then “export it back to the West and that was going to be more of a second-order effect.”
Why Rockstar ultimately abandoned its GTA Tokyo plans
Plans for GTA: Tokyo first materialized following the release of GTA III. Besides that, Rockstar Games also registered trademarks for GTA: Bogota and Sin City. However, the decision to cancel the game came down to logistics. “The contracts were never signed,” Vermeij concluded.
Since its inception, the Grand Theft Auto franchise has exclusively stuck to satirizing America’s cities and culture. Rockstar has released eight mainline games, along with several spin-offs and expansions. It is currently developing GTA VI, which will bring players back to Vice City, a fictional take on Miami. GTA VI will be released globally on November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
