A retrospective look at when Rockstar wanted to focus more on Austin Powers than GTA 3

It's hard to imagine it today, but there was once a time when Rockstar was more invested in the idea of working on Austin Powers than GTA 3.

Several decades ago, Rockstar wanted to work on a project known as Austin Powers: Mojo Rally. It was a kart racer featuring characters from the series, but it was a video game that ended up never being made (by Rockstar or anybody else). Around the same time, Rockstar was working on GTA 3, although there wasn't much hype around it back then.

As gamers know by now, the latter game propelled the series into becoming one of the most influential and successful franchises of all time. Hence, it's worth looking back at history to look at it from the perspective of the time.

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A look back at Rockstar's history with Austin Powers and GTA 3

There was once a time when GTA 3 could have been an Xbox exclusive, but that pitch was rejected decades ago. Who knows how the series could have ended up if that was the case, but it's worth looking at what one Xbox employee said regarding the title.

Here, Seamus Blackley (who worked on designing the Xbox) talks about a funny story related to two potential games. According to him, Rockstar's Sam Houser was excited to work on an Austin Powers game while barely focusing on GTA 3.

It's hard to think about how different the video game landscape would be if the former game ended up being made and if the latter was scrapped instead.

One of the reasons for the lack of enthusiasm for the latter game was the transition from a 2D series into a 3D series. Every gamer knows that it was a successful transition for the Grand Theft Auto series, but there was no guarantee back in the day.

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Austin Powers: Mojo Rally

Austin Powers: Mojo Rally was a cut game that never made it to the Xbox or the Dreamcast. Sam Houser stated in a Take-Two press release on March 24, 2000:

"We are extremely excited to bring all the signature humor, style, and wit of the Austin Powers characters and film series to Austin Powers: Mojo Rally."

That press release revealed some information about the game, such as how it would be "breathtaking with 640 by 480 pixel resolution" and how it could support up to four players.

Rockstar Games published two games for the series, but it didn't involve Mojo Rally (Image via Wikipedia)

In an interview with IGNDC, executive producer Nick Baynes said:

"Mojo Rally will have an "E" rating."

Aside from this, there wasn't too much interesting information about the game. The reason for its cancelation several months later was apparently:

"Rockstar noted the current market surplus of kart games as the primary culprit..."

There were dozens of kart racers in 2000, and that's not mentioning some of the older titles from years ago (like Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart 64) dominating the market. Hence, it's reasonable to see the financial risk of continuing with Mojo Rally.

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GTA 3 ended up revolutionizing the industry

GTA 3 ended up becoming one of the most revolutionary video games of all time (Image via Metacritic)

Fortunately, GTA 3 became a smashing success. It came out on October 22, 2001 to critical acclaim, with it practically revolutionizing the open-world genre. Shortly afterward, the term "GTA Clone" would have to be coined with so many video games trying to capture what made GTA 3 work.