Rockstar Only Changed 1 Percent Of GTA3 After 9/11

Grand Theft Auto III didn't see many changes after the events of 9/11. As part of an ongoing Q&A series on its website, Rockstar Games says the only significant change was the removal of one story mission.

"We removed only one mission that referenced terrorists and changed a few other cosmetic details – car details, a couple of ped comments, lines of radio dialogue etc – the game came out a very short time later," Rockstar said. "The biggest change was the US packaging which remixed the previous packaging into what became our signature style – because the previous packaging [which was released as the cover of the game in Europe] was, we felt, too raw after 9/11.

"All of the more extreme rumors are amusing but impossible to have been achieved in such a short period of time."

Rockstar says it has no plans to release a version of Grand Theft Auto III without the edits. Head over to the company's website here to read some more interesting tidbits about the game's development.

From left to right: the 10-year anniversary edition cover art, the original European cover art, and an early rough concept art for GTA III