Rockstar Co-Founder Says GTA III Cover Art Was Created Two Days Before Release

The developers had to rush, but the final result turned out to be very successful.

Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser recently spoke with IGN and shared memories about working on various projects. During the interview, they touched upon the history behind the Grand Theft Auto III cover art. The creators used a distinctive style for it that many players still recognize the franchise by to this day.

As it turned out, the GTA III cover art was supposed to look different, but the design had to be changed at the last minute due to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Houser explains that the original version was planned to depict burning buildings. Obviously, after the destruction of the World Trade Center, such an illustration was deemed inappropriate.

As a result, artist Stephen Bliss prepared another option in “about a couple of evenings”:

It is funny that the cover art that became iconic for the GTA series was made by Stephen Bliss in literally a couple of evenings, because the old cover art after September 11 would have been considered too offensive—it had burning buildings on it. If September 11 had not happened, it would not have been changed. So that cover art, which became so recognizable, appeared only because of September 11.

Rockstar co-founder shares that the iconic GTA III cover art appeared 2 days before release, and the resulting style is still used today — Image source: Rockstar Games

The terrorist attack also affected the available content in Grand Theft Auto III. The events of the game take place in Liberty City, a fictional version of New York, so the creators made a number of adjustments since certain scenes and lines of dialogue could evoke associations with the tragedy.

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