{"id":661612,"date":"2026-04-02T04:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn"},"modified":"2026-04-02T04:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:54:12","slug":"creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn.jpg\" \/> <\/p>\n<p>I still can&#8217;t get over hearing that Grand Theft Auto was nearly canned &#8211; <i>the<\/i> Grand Theft Auto, the original, the game that started it all. What would have happened if it never came out? And it very nearly didn&#8217;t, to hear Gary Penn talk about it, senior producer and then creative director on it. &#8220;That game was pretty much nearly canned every bloody week,&#8221; he tells me in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/one-to-one-meet-gary-penn-of-zzap64-and-gta-fame\">episode 20 of One-to-one<\/a>, now available to all premium Eurogamer supporters.<\/p>\n<p>Why was it nearly canned? Because &#8220;it was going nowhere and it was awful&#8221; &#8211; Penn isn&#8217;t one for mincing his words. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know why I used to defend it every week,&#8221; he says. &#8220;I think I just believed that it could be something, as did Sam Houser who used to work there as well &#8230; he was one of the other few people who believed in it.&#8221; (Sam Houser went on to co-found Rockstar with his brother Dan and do very well out of GTA, of course.) <\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s an audible sigh as I ask Gary Penn what was so awful about it, as if it&#8217;s painful to remember. &#8220;For a start it rarely worked,&#8221; he begins. &#8220;It would crash constantly &#8211; full-on, full-scale crashing, not sort of &#8216;oh, slightly inconvenient&#8217;. You couldn&#8217;t play it for more than a few minutes. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I still can&#8217;t get over hearing that Grand Theft Auto was nearly canned &#8211; the Grand Theft Auto, the original, the game that started it all. What would have happened if it never came out? And it very nearly didn&#8217;t, to hear Gary Penn talk about it, senior producer and then creative director on it. &#8220;That game was pretty much nearly canned every bloody week,&#8221; he tells me in episode 20 of One-to-one, now available to all premium Eurogamer supporters. Why was it nearly canned? Because &#8220;it was going nowhere and it was awful&#8221; &#8211; Penn isn&#8217;t one for mincing his words. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know why I used to defend it every week,&#8221; he says. &#8220;I think I just believed that it could be something,&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":661613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230],"tags":[7700,8251,8255,8253,187,8254,5911,8256,8252,2001],"class_list":["post-661612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eurogamer","tag-autonauts","tag-crackdown","tag-crackdown-2","tag-denki","tag-grand-theft-auto","tag-grand-theft-auto-2","tag-grand-theft-auto-iii","tag-manhunt","tag-quarrel","tag-rockstar-north"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I still can&#039;t get over hearing that Grand Theft Auto was nearly canned - the Grand Theft Auto, the original, the game that started it all. What would have\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I still can&#039;t get over hearing that Grand Theft Auto was nearly canned - the Grand Theft Auto, the original, the game that started it all. What would have\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-02T04:54:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-02T04:54:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":243,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Autonauts\",\"Crackdown\",\"Crackdown 2\",\"Denki\",\"grand theft auto\",\"Grand Theft Auto 2\",\"Grand Theft Auto III\",\"Manhunt\",\"Quarrel\",\"rockstar north\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Eurogamer\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/\",\"name\":\"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-02T04:54:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"I still can't get over hearing that Grand Theft Auto was nearly canned - the Grand Theft Auto, the original, the game that started it all. What would have\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":270,\"caption\":\"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn | Arcader News","description":"I still can't get over hearing that Grand Theft Auto was nearly canned - the Grand Theft Auto, the original, the game that started it all. What would have","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn | Arcader News","og_description":"I still can't get over hearing that Grand Theft Auto was nearly canned - the Grand Theft Auto, the original, the game that started it all. What would have","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2026-04-02T04:54:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":270,"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn","datePublished":"2026-04-02T04:54:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/"},"wordCount":243,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn.jpg","keywords":["Autonauts","Crackdown","Crackdown 2","Denki","grand theft auto","Grand Theft Auto 2","Grand Theft Auto III","Manhunt","Quarrel","rockstar north"],"articleSection":["Eurogamer"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/","name":"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-02T04:54:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"I still can't get over hearing that Grand Theft Auto was nearly canned - the Grand Theft Auto, the original, the game that started it all. What would have","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn.jpg","width":480,"height":270,"caption":"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/creating-grand-theft-auto-and-zzap64-the-life-and-stories-of-gary-penn\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Creating Grand Theft Auto and Zzap!64: the life and stories of Gary Penn"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1294312,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661612\/revisions\/1294312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}