Dan Houser, former VP at Rockstar Games and a key writer for the Grand Theft Auto series, has shared how the events of September 11, 2001, directly influenced the iconic cover art style that has defined the franchise.
Speaking as part of IGN's 30 Icons Series, Houser explained that the now-familiar panelled collection of images, which had graced every game box from GTA 3 onwards, was not the original plan for Grand Theft Auto 3. The initial cover art reportedly depicted burning buildings, an image that became unsuitable for release in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
"Stephen Bliss did that in about two evenings because the old cover art was probably being too offensive to release after 9/11 because they were burning buildings in it," Houser stated. "So it would've been fine if there hadn't just been 9/11. So that look of the shards, the squares that became very iconic, only appeared because of 9/11."
These last-minute changes, along with alterations to the game's content, contributed to a slight delay for GTA 3's release, shifting it from October 3, 2001, to October 22. Houser noted that at the time, Take-Two was facing economic difficulties, and the team was not certain of the game's eventual success.
"So I remember in early 2001, Take-Two was on the point of economic failure at the time," Houser recalled. "We were struggling to get the game done, but we thought the game was going to be amazing and took it to E3 on the show floor and nobody cared about it. So that was dispiriting up to a point. And then the game came out six, seven months later. And that was just after 9/11."
Given that GTA 3 is set in Liberty City, a fictionalized version of New York City, certain content required adjustments. Houser mentioned that a few elements that would have been acceptable pre-9/11 were deemed "a little bit too much" in the direct aftermath. These included changes to the color of police cars to differentiate them from NYPD vehicles, altering airplane flight paths to avoid simulating flights near skyscrapers, and removing a mission that referenced terrorists.
The game's gradual, steady sales through the end of 2001 and into early 2002 ultimately led to its landmark success. Houser elaborated that the sales didn't spike dramatically in any single week but rather