10 Things That Almost Completely Changed GTA History

4. Terrorists Almost Took Over GTA III

Were it not for the tragic events of 9/11, GTA fans might have tackled terrorists in GTA III. According to Rockstar VP Dan Houser, the terror attacks directly influenced some significant cuts from the game, which was released just weeks later. Though he downplayed the importance of one cut character (more of which soon,) Houser did confirm that one mission involving terrorists was cut entirely, and that they made a couple of significant cosmetic changes, presumably to make sure they weren't deemed disrepectful:

"As far as I recall, we changed the colour of the cop cars so they weren't identical to NYPD, we altered the flight path of a plane so that it didn't look like it was flying into or behind a skyscraper, and we removed one mission as it made a reference to terrorists, plus a few lines of pedestrian dialogue and a line or two of talk radio.€

Thanks to that throw-away comment, it seems a terrorist mission would have been included, which has inspired huge debate about the nature of the mission, and its chief players. Houser suggested that the biggest impact on GTA's release was the fact that the Rockstar offices were close to Ground Zero, making work impossible, and that the terror attack affected the development team in less tangible ways:

"The mood in the office... It was very upsetting, very unnerving and overwhelming. It was the same for us as it was for anybody. But we also felt we'd come this close to making this great game and that despite these problems, just as despite the problems of Take Two, it was our duty to finish it."

And apparently, the rumours of who those terrorists were lead by were completely wrong, as the character whose name always pops up was cut well before the changes made after 9/11. Which leads us nicely to...