Debunking Five Ridiculous Grand Theft Auto Rumors

Reality: One thing you're going to notice about a lot of the rumors we debunk in this series is that they almost always start with a kernel of truth. In this case, it was Grand Theft Auto III would wind up on the Xbox. Sure, it took two full years and didn't come with online play (as predicted), but EGM made the safe bet that Xbox owners would eventually get their hands on the PS2 exclusive.

Where things begin to fall apart is when predicting what would come after GTA3. They thought it would be a massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in a “real U.S. city.” Given that this was 2002, I think we can all agree that this plan would have been insanely ambitious. That may not even be a strong enough word, since I doubt the PlayStation 2 and O.G. Xbox could have even handled Grand Theft Auto as an MMO. This was at a time when neither Sony nor Microsoft had finalized their two very different online plans, and considering how much trouble Rockstar had making the offline game, there's no way they could have jumped into making a massively multiplayer GTA sequel.

As we all know, Rockstar didn't attempt an MMO version of the game until 2013, more than a decade after EGM published this rumor. The true follow-up to Grand Theft Auto III was Vice City, released almost exactly a year later and not set in a real U.S. city. And for that reason, I'll give this rumor 5 expandable moons out of 10.

Reality: Another year, another rumor about a massively multiplayer Grand Theft Auto game. It's actually kind of funny how Quartermann basically recycles his rumor from a few months ago and plugs in the new information that came from the Vice City reveal. Instead of the MMO being the next game, it's going to be the next, next game. And, apparently, it's going to be called “Crime Online,” which doesn't even fit into their established naming convention. This is just the last rumor with a new (and totally made-up) name.

The one part of this rumor that is actually new and potentially interesting is the Grand Theft Auto Universe branding. With Vice City announced and San Andreas a couple years away, I can imagine a multiverse where Rockstar gave us a new globe-trotting adventure every year or two. Maybe the next one is in a fictional London or Paris or Tokyo, all under the banner of GTA Universe. Honestly, that sounds way better than where we are today, waiting more than a decade for Rockstar to hurry up and count to six.

Because EGM basically just recycled this MMO rumor, I'll give it 4 GTA5 ports out of 10.

Reality: With a two-year gap between the release of Vice City and San Andreas, this gave EGM plenty of time to post half-true rumors and dubious predictions that quickly spiral out of control. On one hand, it's easy to see why Quartermann assumed Rockstar was done with numbering Grand Theft Auto, especially in early 2004. Vice City was a huge hit and Rockstar was readying another subtitled GTA experience as EGM went to print. I'm sure there were a lot of people at the time assuming that this was the template for the series going forward.

Of course, the game we actually got was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a massive open-world action game with parody versions of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. It was set in the 1990s (not the 1970s, as EGM suggested), and wasn't called GTA: Sin City. In fact, the game's fictional version of Las Vegas was actually called Las Venturas, which is a lot more in line with Rockstar's naming conventions than Sin City, which I think we can all agree is a little too on-the-nose.

As we all know, there was a Grand Theft Auto IV. It launched four years later on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Vice City and San Andreas have since been rebranded as part of the Grand Theft Auto III Trilogy, so don't follow EGM's lead and call them GTA 4 and 5. I'll give this rumor a 7 Frank Millers out of 10.

Reality: Admit it, you spend a few seconds racking your mind trying to remember if Eminem or 50 Cent were in San Andreas. They weren't, but it's not that outlandish of a rumor. After all, the mile-long cast included Ice T, MC Eiht, Chuck D, The Game and more popular rappers, and even some of the GTA characters are based on real-life hip hop heroes. It wouldn't be crazy to see Eminem or 50 Cent show up, even if it's on the radio with a song or as a disc jockey. But alas, they aren't there.

Here's what I think happened: The Q-mann got his wires crossed and mixed-up Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas with a completely different game that was in development at the exact same time – 50 Cent: Bulletproof. This was a similarly-themed action game starring 50 Cent, with supporting performances from DJ Whoo Kid, Dr. Dre, Young Buck and, you guessed it, the one and only Slim Shady. It sure sounds like this is the game Quartermann is talking about, not Grand Theft Auto.

It's also worth mentioning that Eminem was in talks to star in a Grand Theft Auto movie that was being pitched around this time. According to Kirk Ewing, a Hollywood producer called Rockstar boss Sam Houser and tried to sell him on a crime-fueled action film starring Eminem and directed by Tony Scott. Much like this EGM rumor, the GTA film never panned out, but that didn't stop the rumors from swirling. I'll give this rumor 8 cups of Hot Coffee out of 10.

Reality: I'm going to end this episode by doing the unthinkable – defending poor old Quartermann. When EGM published this rumor in late 2004, I suspect that he was right. Rockstar Games had signaled that they were done with the Grand Theft Auto III trilogy and were ready to move on to the next big thing, which ended up becoming the polarizing Grand Theft Auto IV. With new consoles just around the corner, it made sense that the Grand Theft Auto series would be saying goodbye to the aging PS2. There's just one thing Quartermann failed to predict – ports!

In 2005, Rockstar Games took the console series to the PlayStation Portable with Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, a fully-3D action game set in the same city as GTA3. One year later, Rockstar Games returned to the PSP with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, which offered a completely new story set in the world of Vice City. Seeing a way to print free money, Rockstar decided to port both of these titles to the PlayStation 2 in 2006 and 2007, which means that San Andreas is not, in fact, “the last game in the Grand Theft Auto series to appear on the PlayStation 2.” Sure, it's a technicality, but that just means I need to give it 7 PlayStation Portables out of 10.