GTA 3's Cover Art Had To Be Changed At The Last Minute Due To 9/11

GTA's Iconic Grid-Based Cover Art Was Created To Avoid Controversy After 9/11 Rockstar Published Oct 14, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT Josh Coulson is an editor at TheGamer covering breaking news on everything from colorful platformers to the latest Lego sets. Primarily a news writer since 2018, Josh has covered just about every major game from the past decade. Now an editor, their focus has shifted to being the leading affiliate expert at the site, building relationships between TheGamer and global brands including Mattel, Funko, and The Pokemon Company. Sign in to your TheGamer account The grid layout Rockstar has used for Grand Theft Auto games since GTA 3 is iconic. It’s as synonymous with the series as shooting people and stealing cars, and it returns once again for GTA 6. That’s why you might be surprised to find out the original concept for GTA 3’s cover art was cobbled together over two evenings to avoid offending anyone after 9/11. How 9/11 Changed GTA's Cover Art Forever Dan Houser is not only a former Rockstar VP, but a writer on every single GTA game from GTA 3 up until GTA 5. It was during an interview with IGN that the former Rockstar boss revealed that the GTA 3 cover art had to be changed at the last minute due to the terrorist attacks that brought down the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. “The cover art that became the iconic GTA cover art; Stephen Bliss did that in about two evenings,” Houser revealed when discussing the GTA artwork that make the game’s covers look like they’re made up of windows through which you can see different elements of the game inside. “The old cover art was probably being too offensive to release after 9/11 because they were burning buildings in it... the shards, the squares that became very iconic, only appeared because of 9/11.” To give you an idea of just how little time Rockstar had to switch things up, GTA 3 released in October 2001, a little over a month after the attacks on New York City. That Iconic Design Has Remained In Place Ever Since That design, which has stood the test of time and been used for every single GTA game since, wasn’t deliberated over for months by a team of artists. It was the work of one man, Bliss, over two evenings. A change born out of necessity that has been used for every single GTA game since, and a new GTA game’s cover wouldn’t feel right if it didn’t use it. Like so many other in-progress projects at the time, elements of GTA 3 were changed following 9/11. Not just the cover art, but parts of the game itself that led to its release being delayed by a few weeks. Houser revealed in an earlier interview from 2011 that the route of a plane that made it look like it was flying into a skyscraper because it went behind it was changed in case players deemed it to be insensitive. The design of the police cars was also altered to better differentiate them from NYPD vehicles, and a mission that involved terrorists was removed entirely.