Rockstar were "definitely" thinking about giving a Japanese studio the keys to GTA, says former tech director - "I have a name, but I'm not gonna say it"

Summary

Since time immemorial, North American and European publishers have racked their brains over ways to make their games sell in Japan, ancient heartland of mythical beings like Mario, Sonic, and Polaroid Pete. In the late noughties, Microsoft launched a big push to give Japanese youth the Xbox virus with such targeted console exclusives as Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. And Rockstar once dreamed of making a Grand Theft Auto game set in Tokyo. Speaking to me last week, Rockstar North's former technical director Obbe Vermeij shared a little about the abandoned project. Emphasis on the "little" – it…

Description from Rock Paper Shotgun.