In 2003, before the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Rockstar Games filed ten trademarks for the series, most notably including "GTA Tokyo", "GTA Sin City", and "GTA Bogota", possibly hinting at new games set in Japan, Las Vegas, and Colombia, respectively.

In December 2023, following the leak of Grand Theft Auto V's source code, dataminers found evidence of GTA Tokyo at one point being in development for the PlayStation 2. According to an anonymous source speaking to the website Time Extension, Tokyo was considered as a potential setting by Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser, who had been traveling to the city frequently to promote the release of Grand Theft Auto III. However, they ultimately did not go through with this idea due to logistical issues with creating the worldbuilding and map of Tokyo. As for the other two trademarks, the source claimed they were never fully considered and their trademarks were only filed to prevent potential web domains for the games from being claimed and squatted by other people.