GTA 3 Cover Art Changed After 9/11 Attacks
Rockstar redesigned Grand Theft Auto 3's box art and altered in-game content following the September 11 attacks, creating the iconic cover style still used by the franchise today.
Rockstar reconsidered the initial Grand Theft Auto 3 box art featuring burning buildings in light of the 9/11 attacks on New York City. The original cover was likely too offensive to release after the disaster, leading the developer to consider sensitivity around showing destruction and death.
Dan Houser, the former Rockstar VP and writer for most of the studio's games until 2018, revealed the last-minute changes. The game's release was delayed from October 3, 2001, to October 22, 2001.
The iconic shards-and-squares design emerged from last-minute edits
The now-recognizable GTA cover art style was created rapidly as a direct response to 9/11, replacing the original offensive concept. Artist Stephen Bliss created the final GTA 3 box art in about two evenings. Houser noted, "He did that in about two evenings." The iconic shards and squares design only appeared because of the attacks.
Content was altered beyond the cover to avoid real-world parallels
Rockstar removed a terrorist mission, changed cop car colours, and adjusted a plane's flight path to prevent imagery evoking the 9/11 attacks. The team did a quick content review and edited a couple of lines of dialogue. Police cars were recoloured to avoid similarity with NYPD vehicles, and a plane's flight path was altered so it would not look like it was flying into or behind a skyscraper.
The redesigned art became a lasting franchise template
The post-9/11 GTA 3 cover design has been used for every mainline GTA game since, including the upcoming GTA 6. The same template is still being used 25 years later. The cover art became a popular cultural element, seen on T-shirts at tourist resorts roughly a decade after the game's release.
Sales grew steadily despite the turmoil, reflecting the game's resilience
Grand Theft Auto 3, set in a fictionalised version of New York called Liberty City, sold consistently week by week from its October 2001 release through early 2002. It did not have a single massive sales week but saw steady growth through Christmas 2001 and into the new year. The GTA 3 box art template has been used for every GTA game since and was most recently co-opted for GTA 6's cover.
