Why There Are Almost No Games Like Grand Theft Auto Anymore

Grand Theft Auto was released in Europe first in 1997 on PC platforms and the PS1. The first couple of titles were a bit niche, but Grand Theft Auto 3 changed everything on the PS2 in 2001. It became the game that everyone had to imitate as the series continued to sell big with its many sequels. Saints Row and True Crime are two big examples of GTA-style clones that became franchises of their own.

Then there were games like Jak 2, which adapted the big city landscape, and even licensed games like The Simpsons: Hit & Run. There was no escaping Grand Theft Auto and its clones for a good decade, but since the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S generation began, and maybe even a little before, the clones have almost stopped. Are there any particular reasons why, and where did all those franchises go? Let’s find out.

Development Costs Have Ballooned

It’s A Big Gamble

This isn’t just a problem for Grand Theft Auto clones, as the cost of making video games has gone up across the board. It started getting high during the PS4 and Xbox One era, but things only skyrocketed from there after the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S coincided with the 2020 pandemic. Now, studios are hesitant to release something that won’t generate revenue after investing years into development.

To make a true Grand Theft Auto killer, a company would need to match Rockstar Games’ cash flow, and that’s a big, scary gamble for a company. Even if a game starts the development process, there is never any assurance that it will come out, no matter how much footage is shown. This has happened time and time again regarding the Xbox platform, leading to cancellations like Perfect Dark and Everwild.

A Lot Of The Studios Are Now Gone

Can They Return?

The golden years of Grand Theft Auto clones happened between about 2002 and 2014, which started with the debut of the Mafia franchise and ended with the Watch Dogs series. There are about a dozen notable games or franchises worth mentioning from that span, and while some have found success over the years with sequels, others have not. Even the successful franchises can no longer return for one big reason: the studios that made them no longer exist.

For example, next to Mafia, the Saints Row series has been one of Grand Theft Auto’s most successful competitors. The developer, Volition, had a good run when they were part of THQ between 2000 and 2013, but things started to get rough after that. In 2023, Volition was shut down, which made sense considering Saints Row, the 2022 reboot, was a flop, despite a lot of diehard fans actually appreciating it. Other notable lost developers include Luxoflux and United Front Games, who worked on True Crime and Sleeping Dogs, respectively.

Open-World Games Have Taken Over

Who Needs A Sandbox?

Technically, it should be noted that the open-world genre started with games like The Legend of Zelda, which had a non-linear world to explore, and RPGs like Final Fantasy, which had a world map. The next big evolution happened with Grand Theft Auto 3 in 2001, which gave rise to the sandbox genre. This is what companies chased equally as hard as making direct clones of Grand Theft Auto. For example, while not a direct Grand Theft Auto killer, the aforementioned Jak 2 was a sandbox game with a city to explore and vehicles to steal. Sandbox games were the biggest genre in gaming for a good decade, and then with the rise of the Xbox 360 and PS3, things changed.

Open-world games hit their peak evolutionary moment with games like The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, and things only got bigger over the years, like with Hogwarts Legacy and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. There’s no denying that open-world games are far more popular now, thanks to the bigger computing power of both consoles and PCs. Why make a sandbox game when an open-world game is almost guaranteed to get more attention? This loops back to the problem with development costs, as not every developer can invest in an open-world game compared to a smaller sandbox game.

Other Tastes Have Shifted

There Are More Genres To Tackle

It’s not just the lack of interest in sandbox games as compared to open-world games. The genres of all video games have gotten more complex thanks to the rise of indie games in the 2010s. Metroidvanias, roguelikes, card games, puzzle games, and more have dominated the landscape of digital stores like Steam and Nintendo’s eShop.

These indie games offer players something from their youth that AAA companies can no longer give them on a bigger scale. They are bite-sized adventures that are perfect for on-the-go gaming or to finish in a relatively short amount of time. There are even direct Grand Theft Auto clones within the indie landscape, or games with similar vibes like Shakedown Hawaii and Hotline Miami, plus upcoming games like Streets of Rogue 2. If players want more games like Grand Theft Auto, they can search for indies, but it’s not exactly the same thing as getting a new Saints Row or True Crime game.

The Industry Has Grown Up

It’s Not Enough To Be Offensive Anymore

Rockstar Games made a name for itself because it was a studio pushing the boundaries of the industry with content that shocked every parent watching the news. Stealing cars, killing ladies of the night, hanging out with gang leaders, and so on. The 2000s were seemingly a lawless time in the industry, with many other companies trying to push the envelope with crass humor in their games and advertising.

Then the industry started to grow up, and gone were the days of booth babes at conventions and ads with explicit sexual innuendos. This could be another reason why Grand Theft Auto clones started to phase themselves out, as companies were more than happy to let Rockstar Games get all the flak for their edgy sensibilities. Rockstar Games can and will survive any controversies thrown at them. Can the same be said for smaller developers?