Former Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser has revealed why the Grand Theft Auto series never returned to London as a setting after its 1997 expansion pack. In a recent interview, Houser cited the franchise's deep ties to American culture and the need for elements like guns as key reasons. He emphasized that GTA's identity is inherently linked to Americana, making non-U.S. settings challenging.
Background on GTA's London Venture
The Grand Theft Auto series, developed by Rockstar Games, has primarily featured fictionalized versions of American cities like Liberty City (New York), Vice City (Miami), and Los Santos (Los Angeles). However, in 1997, an expansion pack for the original Grand Theft Auto remade its world as London in 1969, capturing the Swinging Sixties era with colorful Minis, mods, and pastel aesthetics. This pack, known as Grand Theft Auto: London 1969, offered a standalone UK-exclusive version and provided a brief glimpse of the series outside the U.S., fueling fan hopes for a full return to British soil.
Houser's Insights from Lex Fridman Interview
Speaking on the Lex Fridman podcast, Houser, who left Rockstar in 2020 to found Absurd Ventures, addressed the possibility of revisiting London. "There's a reason why GTA kept coming back to Miami, New York, Los Angeles," he said, highlighting how these cities embody contrasts of wealth and poverty, glitz, immigration, drugs, and organized crime—essential for the series' satirical take. Houser described GTA as "a psychotic version of a Dickens book," relying on exaggerated, larger-than-life characters.
A major barrier, he noted, is the availability of guns, a staple in GTA gameplay. "For a full GTA game: we always decided there was so much Americana inherent in the IP it would be really hard to make it work in London or anywhere else," Houser explained. "You needed guns, you needed these larger-than-life characters. It just felt like the game was so much about America, possibly from an outsider's perspective."
Implications for Future GTA Titles
Houser's departure means he had no involvement in Grand Theft Auto VI, set for release in 2025, which continues the series' American focus. Fans hoping for a UK return may need to rely on mods, similar to the Fallout: London project, echoing how the original London pack used third-party tools like GTACars. Houser's reflections also touched on the pressures of past projects, including financial strains during GTA III and IV, and over-budget issues with Red Dead Redemption 2, underscoring the challenges behind Rockstar's iconic titles.