In a recent interview, Dan Houser, one of Rockstar Games’ founders, explained why Grand Theft Auto almost always takes place in the United States, apart from a brief trip to London in 1999. He said the same rationale accounts for why Fallout, the famed post-apocalyptic franchise, remains rooted in the U.S.
According to Houser, there is too much “Americanness” in GTA’s DNA for the series to function naturally in another country. The London episode on the PS1 was more of an experiment.
During Summer Game Fest, representatives from Bethesda Game Studios said that Fallout is “most likely” never to leave the United States. The franchise is tightly bound to events that unfold in America and to its post-war, atomic landscape.
Dan Houser also noted on Lex Fridman’s podcast:
“We made a small GTA London 26 years ago for the PS1. It was cute and fun. But there’s too much Americanness, and it would be hard to transplant it to London or anywhere else. You need weapons, larger-than-life characters. The game is entirely about the U.S., perhaps seen from an outsider’s perspective.”
Historically, GTA has moved players from a fictional Miami to a Los Angeles analogue, from New York to a brief detour in North Dakota. The situation with Fallout is similar: Todd Howard confirmed in 2024 that the franchise will remain within the United States, leaving what happens elsewhere in the world deliberately unexplored.
Source: iXBT.games