Will GTA Ever Leave America Again?

It’s been a long time since the last time a Grand Theft Auto game was set outside of the United States, with all signs pointing to the next installment once again gracing the golden sands of California, has America become too important a part of the franchise for it to ever leave again?

America has become a critical part of the game in the past few installments, story arcs are based around American themes, Rockstar’s satire of American culture seems to know no bounds and its almost as if the whole of GTA IV was a comment on American life and society. 

The first line on the back of the box for GTA IV is “What does the American dream mean today?” This sums up really well the developer’s mission statement for the game. Niko’s rise through the echelons of Liberty City’s criminal underworld is symbolic of the ambitions of every American. His discovery that Roman’s apartment had more cockroaches than strippers echoed themes of disappointment and reality often associated with the American Dream. Niko concludes the game, after killing a top criminal boss, with the line “Welcome to America”, Rockstar’s irony, parody and cultural commentary are unparalleled. Could they turn this skill to make a game with an international setting?

It would be fascinating to see what direction Rockstar could take if they chose a setting, the United Kingdom for example, which would revolutionise the franchise’s formula. There are however, many obstacles and issues they might encounter. International culture (take your pick) would be a very different beast, would the team be able to turn their satirical skills to a completely different subject matter? Could they find a theme suitable enough to craft an engaging story that was also cultural commentary? More realistically, they have to struggle with the fact that the vast majority of their audience are American and that satire of American culture resonates much better than that of European or Asian for example. Furthermore, an American setting is much more exciting in terms of gameplay and allows for much more ridiculous things to happen in the story. America is the perfect setting for GTA, but has it become a prison?

Given these constraints and the fact that GTA V looks once again to be set in America, will the series ever be able to be set anywhere else?