San Andreas almost had a very different map

Key recommendations

  • Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had plans for three separate maps, with cities connected by trains and planes.
  • The developers switched to a map after a decisive meeting at Rockstar.
  • The game's legacy remains strong despite a lackluster remaster in 2021.



Two decades after its initial release, the map has been revealed to be entering Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was almost significantly different from what players received in 2004. This interesting piece of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The lore is one few players will know about, with one of the developers telling the story straight.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas it is widely considered to be a masterpiece. For many players, this is not just a big plus grand theft auto franchise, but it also remains one of the best open-world games ever made. Compared to its predecessors, Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice Citybrought the series forward by leaps and bounds. While the year 2021 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Definitive Edition may not have received the same positive reception, it would certainly take a lot more than a sub-par remaster to tarnish the original game's legacy.


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On October 26, 2024, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas turned 20 years old. To mark the occasion, Obbe Vermeij, who worked as the game's technical director, told a story on Twitter about how the game's three cities (Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas) were almost split into separate maps. According to Vermeij, players “would travel between cities using trains and planes.” Everything was in favor of this decision – Vermeij listed several reasons why it would have been much easier for each city to have its own map, particularly the PS2's memory limitations and the ease of naturally constraining the player to an area .


Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had almost three separate maps


Before the artists work on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Map, there was one last meeting at Rockstar North that led to the final decision to keep everything confined to one area. Vermeij didn't reveal the real reason for going with a single map, but most would be glad they did, considering the end result was one of the best open world maps in gaming. Despite the change, Vermeij emphasized that “We still ended up doing city-specific pickups, police cars and weather,” ending his story with a nostalgic “Happy Birthday San Andreas. You came out okay.”


After 20 years, players are still excited about grand theft auto series. Grand Theft Auto 6 is by far the biggest title in the 2025 video game release calendar, a game that gamers have been waiting for for over 11 years. Rockstar continues to push the boundaries of what's possible in the open-world genre, last seen with Red Dead Redemption 2and is expected to continue this pattern in GTA 6. Hopefully it won't be long before Rockstar can give players more than just the one trailer that exists for Grand Theft Auto 6.

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