Why GTA 2’s Futuristic City Was a One-Time Experiment According to Rockstar Insider

While GTA VI is on the horizon, fans have been wondering if Rockstar Games would ever dip back into the futuristic setting of GTA 2, a Grand Theft Auto Cyberpunk perhaps. However, former technical director of Rockstar North, Obbe Vermeij, confirmed it's unlikely.

In a recent interview with GamesHub, Obbe Vermeij shared a few behind-the-scenes details on why the 1999 sequel to the Grand Theft Auto series didn’t stick with developers or players.

GTA 2 stood out from the mainline franchise by ditching the grounded, contemporary cityscapes of “Anywhere City” in favor of a futuristic metropolis, set in the year 2013 or 1999, depending upon which GTA theory you’re inclined to believe.

The sequel boasted futuristic pulse rifles, electro guns, and hovering vehicles, while following the same loop of carjacking and shootouts. However, Vermeij recounted that the futuristic shift didn’t sit right with Rockstar Games post-launch. He explained:

The team that made GTA 2 hated it. I wasn’t in those games, but my team sat right next to them, so I could hear all the yelling and the conversations and stuff, and they didn’t like the idea of going into the future because they had to reinvent everything, like how weapons work and everything else.

The developers weren’t the only ones who experienced the anguish of working on GTA 2. Gamers didn’t vibe with GTA 2 either. According to Vermeij, “People didn’t connect with the game or its city as much as they did with GTA 1.”

Despite this, GTA 2 sold over 3 million copies. However, it was a tiny blip compared to the hits Rockstar Games would produce later, such as GTA III: Liberty City, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas.

The interviewers asked if GTA would ever revisit a dystopian, futuristic world, and Vermeij’s answer was a blunt “no.” He further added:
 

GTA is just too valuable. It could be cool, but you just don’t want to gamble with it like that.

You’ve now obviously got the cultural impact, which is way more important than it was then. You know, the game generates memes and conversation and hits and clicks and views. You just have far less of that if it were set in some vision of the future, I think.

With GTA VI scheduled to release at the tail end of 2026 in a Vice-City-inspired Leonida, complete with diverse biomes, Rockstar is doubling down on what works and has been working for the past two decades.

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