"There was so much Americana": Rockstar's co-founder Dan Houser on why GTA was always based in the U.S.A.

Former GTA co-writer Dan Houser recently explained why GTA was almost always based in the U.S.A. Ever since the IP's first title, it was always based on popular cities in America, like New York, Los Angeles, Miami, etc. The developers came up with fictional names for these cities and created maps for each Grand Theft Auto title.

Speaking on the Lex Fridman podcast, Houser was asked whether GTA could be based in another country's city. To this, he explained how to game series have always been about the American culture. Right from the beginning of the series, Rockstar Games showcased parody versions of New York (Liberty City) and the San Andreas area.

"I think 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 said. [1:02:24]

He explained how the gun culture, the type of personalities, and the kind of stories that GTA portrayed have always been about America, or more like an outsider's perspective of America.

"You know, 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. But that was so much about what the thing was that it wouldn't really have worked in the same way elsewhere," he added.

The initial question from Lex Fridman was whether a Grand Theft Auto game would have worked if it were set in London. Houser mentioned that Rockstar Games developed GTA London for PS1 back in 1999 as the first mission pack for the first game. This was the only Grand Theft Auto that was not based in the USA.

"We made a little thing in London 26 years ago, GTA London, for the top-down for the PS1. That was pretty cute and fun. As the first mission pack ever for PlayStation 1." [1:02:11]

For GTA 6, Rockstar Games will be returning to Vice City, which is a parody of Miami. GTA Vice City was the first game that was set in this fictional version of Florida's city.

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Rockstar Games co-founder explains how it feels to have not worked on GTA 6

In the same podcast, Dan Houser was asked how he feels about leaving Rockstar Games, especially now that they are working on the first Grand Theft Auto (GTA 6) without him. The Rockstar Games co-founder thought for a while, then answered that it was bittersweet, as Fridman said earlier.

"I think it's, how would I describe it? Of course, it's all of the above [bittersweet but exciting], you know. [I'm] pleased to be doing other stuff, excited for what we're working on now, super excited," Dan Houser said. [1:03:12]

He said he was excited for future projects with his own company, Absurd Ventures, but feels a bit sad to leave the game series, which was a massive part of his life.

"Of course, letting go of something I worked on in one way or another for like 20 odd years, and wrote on the last 10 or 11 that came out. So of course, letting go of that is a big change, and sad in a way, because each of the games was a kind of standalone story," he added.

Back in September 2025, Dan Houser indirectly confirmed that he did not work on GTA 6 during an interview with IGN. The Brit has worked on 12 GTA titles, which is a massive achievement considering how popular the series is in the gaming industry. He left Rockstar Games in 2021, after completing Red Dead Redemption 2.

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Edited by Akshat Kabra