10 Dumbest Reasons Video Games ALMOST Got Cancelled

Even though the original Grand Theft Auto seemed pretty straightforward, the nightmarish behind-the-scenes antics tells a very different story.

In a nutshell, none of the creators could agree on anything. Some developers wanted GTA to be a 2D-styled racer, while others pushed for a top-down view game. Although a lot of team wanted the player to take control of a police car, just as many wanted to play as the criminal being chased. Since the coders, scriptwriters, and programmers refused to get on the same page, they threw tons of conflicting ideas at the project.

Worse still, the beta didn't work. DMA Design's creative director, Gary Penn, said "Even if you did get something in the game, you couldn't really test it. The designers couldn't test stuff out or try things out, it just kept crashing as simple as that."

After four gruelling years with little to show for it, DMA were desperate to can everything. In Penn's own words, "Every week, they wanted to kill this game" since the team couldn't figure out how GTA would look or play.

Despite the fact everyone was expecting an unplayable mess, the finished product was anything but. The creators may have winged it from start to finish, but they managed to kickstart one of the most celebrated and influential game franchises in history.