The Time Extension portal, in a retrospective dedicated to the unreleased GTA games from Rockstar Games, shed light on the fate of the mysterious Grand Theft Auto: Tokyo, which intrigued fans in the early 2000s.
Image source: Rockstar Games
Let us remind you that GTA: Tokyo was not officially announced, but in December 2003 Take-Two registered a similar trademark. In addition, 20 years later, the game in the PS2 version appeared in a large-scale leak of the GTA V source code.
Also in 2016, a source close to Rockstar told TechRadar that the studio seriously considered the idea of releasing GTA: Tokyo after GTA III, but abandoned it due to difficulties with changing iconic elements for the series (like car brands).
Image source: Techradar
According to a Time Extension source who allegedly previously worked at Rockstar, the idea to move the GTA events to Tokyo arose amid studio head Sam Houser’s frequent visits to the Japanese capital to promote GTA III.
«Tokyo seemed like a cool and interesting place for GTA, but it all came down to logistics. It was not easy to send a team there for a long period of time to study the city and the cultural subtext so that we could build a narrative,” said a Time Extension source.
After GTA: Tokyo, Rockstar decided to focus on the cities featured in the first GTA (image source: Steam)
Time Extension’s source also explained why Take-Two registered the trademark GTA: Tokyo (along with GTA: Sin City, GTA: Bogota, GTA V and GTA VI) at the end of 2003 – to protect it from outsiders.
At that time, recalls the Time Extension informant, the Internet was completely different, and such actions of game companies were not monitored so closely. Rockstar is much more careful about registering trademarks these days.