Grand Theft Auto is no exception when it comes to the grueling process of the development, as video games follow the same stages as all other software. However, unlike other forms of media, Rockstar are not able to completely hide all hidden secrets about their game. Undoubtedly, players make it their mission to find every little detail possible within the game – this includes Easter Eggs, Hidden Locations, Deleted Features, and especially anything relating to New or Unused Content.
This has been the case ever since the release of Grand Theft Auto V in 2013, as a number of dedicated fans have made it their mission to analyzing almost every single feature within the game in hopes of finding hidden Easter Eggs, Big Foot, and even the fabled Jetpack. However - thanks to a dedicated community - players have been able to uncover countless hidden bits of information about the series that Rockstar never wanted you to know.
This is all possible thanks to the development of fan-created software like OpenIV and LibertyV as it allows players to use the programs to dig through the source code of almost every single Grand Theft Auto game available. With these programs, players are able to access everything from Icons, Textures, Text Logs, Audio Dialogue, Missions, and even Unused and Deleted Content.
So, if you’re curious to see what features were actually deleted during the development of the Grand Theft Auto series, here are 15 of the most shocking features that will leave you questioning why they were even cut in the first place.
15 GTA III: Children Were Initially Going To Be Featured The Game
If you have ever played the Grand Theft Auto series, you will have noticed that one particular feature has always been missing – children.
However, you will be surprised to know that hasn’t always been the case, as it has since been confirmed that Rockstar had initially planned to introduce children into the series through GTA III. That’s right, the developers at Rockstar had introduced children into the beta version of GTA III.
That wasn’t all though, as the iconic yellow school buses were also a drivable vehicle. It isn’t hard to see why Rockstar eventually made the call to cut children from the series, especially when you consider just how much the franchise has grown since the very first installment.
Ultimately, Rockstar made the tough decision to remove the children after considering the controversies that may arise from having children in such a violent video game.
14 GTA V: Factions Were Going To Be A Big Part Of GTA Online
Grand Theft Auto Online didn’t manage to survive the content culling either, as players have found significant remnants of what GTA Online could have potentially been, as players uncovered a series of code and text files that detail the initial concept that developers had in mind for GTA Online.
One player – Fun De Panda – described this online concept as Cops & Crooks where players were given the option to choose between three different sides: The Lost MC, Vagos, or the Cops. It has been said that by choosing the police faction, you would be able to arrest and handcuff other players – something that was depicted in a number of promotional images.
I think we can all agree that the idea of having factions within GTA Online would have been a fairly cool concept. However, it is hard to imagine that GTA Online could have potentially been a completely different online experience.
13 GTA San Andreas: The Skateboard Was Cut During Development
Let’s be honest, no matter how lame it may sound, we have all at one point been to the skate parks within GTA San Andreas and attempted to drop some sick tricks on our BMX bikes.
But, what if I told you there was actually another object that was in development and could have completely changed your skatepark experience?
That’s right, Rockstar was indeed developing a skateboard that was planned to be released as not only a melee weapon but also as a vehicle within GTA San Andreas. According to the modding community, it is believed that the skateboard was meant to be introduced to the player in the mission Madd Dogg’s Rhymes.
Some players have even been able to access the board through modifications and have reported that it is almost completely developed and even features working animations. Why Rockstar decided to remove the skateboard before release, we will never know.
12 GTA V: Trevor & Michael Were Once Disguised As A Gay Couple
Heists have always been a touchy subject within the Grand Theft Auto V community as broken promises, delays, and lack of updated content has left many players disappointed in the much hyped missions.
However, one particular Heist has always been of interest among the community as the mysterious ‘The Nice House’ aka Sharmoota Job, was cut just before the game was set to release. Details regarding the missing Heist mission has always been scarce, but thankfully renown GTA YouTuber, MrBossFTW, has revealed yet again some very intriguing gameplay details about the mysterious Heist mission.
Much like other Heists, the Sharmoota Job has a three-stage execution – Planning, Preparations, and Approach. The mission revolves around trying to gain access to Martin Madrazo’s house and stealing something valuable. During the first two stages, Michael and Trevor disguise themselves as a gay couple looking to purchase a property. The third approach offers three different possible options, but they all result in you stealing a safe, a prized horse, and taking Madrazo’s wife hostage.
11 GTA V: A Completely New Animal Was Going To Be Added To The Series
Ever the since the launch of GTA V, fans have continually questioned why the game lacks horses - especially when taking into consideration that the developers have dropped numerous hints and have even developed several horse related areas. While there is still yet to be any significant proof towards the fabled animal, many believe that Rockstar did indeed have horses during the beta, but were unfortunately removed before the game was released.
While nobody knows why the horses were cut, a group of modders have since found a number of audio files from a Police Dispatch Officer saying, “Riding a white horse, on a black horse, on a light-colored horse.” Furthermore, some eagle-eyed fans were even quick to discover that a horse can actually be seen during a Pisswasser commercial on the Weazel TV channel. The horse appears to be situated in a farm like area and is surrounded by pigs and rednecks as they roll around in the mud.
10 GTA V: Lamar Davis Was Almost A Playable Character
During the final showdown, there are three different options for the player to choose from: Option A and B end with Franklin killing either Michael or Trevor, or Option C of keeping all three main characters alive. However, after digging through the games source code, players discovered that option C initially involved the death of Franklin, who would ultimately be replaced by Lamar Davis.
What makes this source code so unique is that a significant amount of hidden animations and voice lines were uncovered for Lamar that were never used within the current game. Players have confirmed that by modding the game to play as Lamar, you will be able to interact with surrounding pedestrians in the same fashion as both Michael and Trevor.
The amount of dialogue that has been found for Lamar is more than any other secondary character within the game, leaving many to believe that Lamar Davis was indeed going to be Franklin’s replacement should he have died during the final mission.
9 GTA V: A Bunch Of Game Changing Mini-Games Were Cut
Let’s face it, out of all the activities within GTA San Andreas, the gym was among one of your most visited places within the game as the side activity was arguably one of the best features to have ever been introduced into the Grand Theft Auto series.
This feature was so popular among the community that Rockstar even considered adding the gyms into GTA V but ultimately decided to cut the feature after technical difficulties arose during the development. Rockstar claimed that changing the scale of the characters muscles was extremely challenging as the characters bodies couldn’t be altered to the quality level they had wanted to achieve. They stated that the changing of CJ’s body in GTA San Andreas was much more forgiving due to the games standard definition.
Along with the removal of the gym, players found a series of icons within the game’s code that revealed activities for tow truck removal, basketball, air hockey, and even valet parking.
8 GTA V: Street Vendors, Drive-Thrus & Even Cluckin’ Bell Were Cut From The Game
We all remember the iconic Big Smoke Cluckin’ Bell order from GTA San Andreas as it is arguably one of the most memorable lines from the entire franchise, so when players found some very intriguing DLC icons among the games source code, they were beyond excited.
These icons were found just before the Heist DLC dropped in 2014 and sparked the interest of many within the community as they potentially revealed several new side activities. The icons depicted activities for Street Vendors, Cluckin’ Bell, Burgershot, and even Drive Thru’s.
Despite these activities never seeing the light of day, the fact still remains that Rockstar wouldn’t have created such finalized icons unless the developers were at some point prototyping these activities within the game.
7 GTA III: Terrorist Attacks Caused Features & Missions To Be Scrapped
When it comes to real-world events, the Grand Theft Auto franchise has been often known to take advantage of situations and make a mockery of it. However, this wasn’t the case for GTA III as Rockstar revealed that approximately 1% of the game’s content was removed as result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Instead of turning the events into a joke, Rockstar took the event very seriously and removed one mission that made references to terrorists. The developers even went as far as to alter the cosmetic appearance of several cars, pedestrian comments, radio dialogue and even the US packaging.
What is most surprising is that all of these changes were made within an extremely short time period as GTA III was set to launch just 41 days after the 9/11 attacks.
6 GTA V: The Map Was A Lot Different Prior To The Games Release
One feature that many fans had noticed was that the final version of the GTA V map was quite different from what fans had first witnessed during the game’s initial trailer as numerous towns were angled in different directions, some towns had different names, and even the Grand Senora Desert was much larger in size.
Fans also noticed that certain parts of the map such as Martin Madrazo’s mansion in the Vinewood Hills and even the Paleto Bay Sheriff’s Office appeared to have both had accessible interiors in the game’s initial trailer.
Why the map was changed at such a late stage in development is unknown and while the current rendition of the game’s map has no faults, it would have been nice if Rockstar had kept the initial size of the Grand Senora Desert as the addition of any larger areas is always an added bonus.
5 GTA V: Code Proves That The Jet Pack Was Real At Some Point
With a dedicated community of players still actively searching for the jetpack on a daily basis, it is hard to turn down this rather complex conspiracy theory as players are still constantly finding new facts and evidence that support the jetpack claims. However, after an interview with Kotaku, one of the games modder’s - Wildbrick124 - claims that the search for the jetpack is complete nonsense as there is nothing that supports its existence in-game.
Despite Wildbrick124 claiming that there is currently no code that supports the existence of the jetpack in-game, he does go on to state that there was actually one point in time when a script was discovered to be called “gadget_jetpack.”
While the script was eventually removed, many claim that it may have just been a way for Rockstar to mess with fans who dig within the game’s code – something that Rockstar is no stranger too.
4 GTA V: A Significant Amount Of Weapons Have Been Cut
As we have learned so far, Rockstar has removed quite a significant amount of content throughout the development of the Grand Theft Auto series as vehicles, characters, missions, animals, and even weapons have ultimately been removed before the final release of the game.
GTA V was one of the unlucky games that fell victim to deleted content as modder’s were able to uncover through the games source code, a series of deleted weapons. These weapons included a Shovel, Fire Extinguisher, Fire Axe, Lasso, and even laser sights.
GTA V wasn’t the only game that suffered content removal before its release, as modders have been able to uncover several files that contained deleted content from GTA San Andreas. These files revealed that the game initially had over 150 weapons which included a Grenade Launcher, Mirco-SMG, Machete, and even a laser. Unfortunately, these weapons were removed before the games final release.
3 GTA San Andreas: A Popular Vice City Mini-Game Almost Made A Return
That’s rightarguablyle one of the most interesting and fun missions within GTA Vice City was set to return to the Grand Theft Auto series in GTA San Andreas.
Due to the success and reception that the Pizza Boy missions received by the community it only made sense that Rockstar would re-introduce these missions into GTA San Andreas. Unfortunately - as we all know - the mission didn’t end up making it into the final release of the game, but that didn’t stop dedicated fans from finding traces of the mission’s existence within the games source code.
Why the Pizza Boy missions were removed is still unknown, but many have speculated that the removal may have been due to the fact that it closely resembles the Courier missions that are within the game, as CJ is tasked with delivering packages to various locations around San Andreas.
2 GTA V: Female Officers Were Originally Going To Be On Patrol
The Grand Theft Auto series is no stranger to controversies – especially when it comes to how they portray women within their games.
However, there is one particular issue that has caused quite a stir among the community as many have noticed that the game is severely lacking in female police officers as players have reported that it is extremely rare to find a female officer patrolling the streets of Los Santos. It has been said that female officers only spawn in the surrounding areas of a police station and only ever by foot.
Why female police officers were removed from patrol opportunities is unknown, but as it seems, Rockstar had initially planned to have female officers in the line of duty as numerous promotional images often saw female officers in action.
Giving the current real-world stance on equality and the constant fight for equal rights every day, it seems strange that Rockstar would remove such a feature.
1 GTA V: Two Unique Animal Transforms Were Cut From The Peyote Plants
Peyote Plant collectible is one of the many features that players had initially missed during their first playthrough of the game as these plants aren’t particularly easy to find and require the player to search long and hard to find each of the different plants. When found, the player can eat the Peyote plant – which contains psychoactive properties – causing a hallucinogenic effect to occur.
Current, there are twenty-eight different playable animals that the player can transform into upon finding the corresponding plant. However, one YouTuber – MrBossFTW – revealed that extra code was found hidden within the Ill-Gotten Gains Part 2 DLC that seemly confirmed the addition of two more playable animals. The code showcases dialogue from Trevor as he transforms into a Rat and a Chimpanzee.
While nothing has since come of the 2015 update, it would have been cool to have a few extra animals to transform into.
