10 Ways Your Favourite Video Games Were Almost Radically Different

3. Grand Theft Auto

race and chase
Rockstar Ltd

If it hadn't been for a glitch during the development of the original Grand Theft Auto, gaming might be radically different today.

Originally titled Race 'n' Chase, the first GTA featured none of the over-the-top violence players know and love today, and was instead an attempt to produce an open-world racing game with a heavy emphasis on reckless driving.

Casting players as either cops or criminals, the game would have had you completing street races with a crime twist. Weirdly though, a glitch during development made the police cruisers constantly ram the players off the road, and the devs realised that escaping the fury of the cops made for a much more enjoyable gameplay experience than pure racing.

Deciding to expand on this idea, Race 'n' Chase eventually became Grand Theft Auto, becoming the basis for one of the most popular video game franchises of all time in the process.

Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.