The complete source code of Grand Theft Auto V, better known as GTA 5, is now public knowledge. When Rockstar Games got hacked in September 2022, not just data related to GTA 6 was stolen, but also of its prequel. The leaked source code revealed a lot of confidential information about the 2013-released title, including original plans.
The latest source code leak revealed the endings we got in GTA 5 weren’t in the original plan. Instead, Rockstar Games originally planned way more gruesome endings. As for every game, the American developers also changed many things during development, including the game’s ending.
Grand Theft Auto V has three endings, and the player has to make a critical choice about how they want their gameplay to end. The leaked cut endings are quite similar to the final product which we got. However, they were just more gruesome than what we got in GTA V.
How much brutal were the originally planned GTA 5 endings?
In this 2013-released game, we get three options,
- Choice A: Kill Trevor
- Choice B: Kill Michael
- Choice C: Deathwish
After the Union Depository heist, Steve Haines and Devin Weston pay a visit to Franklin. The former asks him to kill Trevor, as his temper is a liability for the FIB. Meanwhile, Weston wants Michael dead, as he is interfering with his business. Finally, the third option lets Franklin team up with Trevor and Michael to eliminate all enemies.
GTA V story’s cut endings:
– Ending A: Trevor is frozen in liquid nitrogen, then smashed by Michael with a 2×4.
– Ending B: Franklin drops Michael from the top of a tower onto a police helicopter blade.
– Deathwish: Franklin is replaced by Lamar as a playable character. pic.twitter.com/cGlqobhMng— GTA 6 Trailer Countdown ⏳ (@GTAVI_Countdown) December 27, 2023
The leaked source code revealed the original ending plans also had the same options. Choice A originally had Trevor frozen in liquid nitrogen before Michael smashed him with a 2X4. But in the final ending, Franklin shoots leaked fuel to set Trevor on fire. If the former fails to shoot, Michael steps in.
As for Choice B, Rockstar initially planned to have Franklin drop Michael from a tower onto a helicopter blade to chop him to death. However, the American studio got rid of the chopping death and just had Michael fall from the tower to his death.
Lamar was supposed to replace Franklin as the third playable character in the original Deathwish. Slink Johnson, Lamar’s voice actor, once revealed that this was the original plan, but Rockstar had to change the ending because he got into some legal issues. In the game’s Deathwish, the protagonist trio eliminates all enemies before locking Devin in a car trunk and throwing it off the clip into the sea.
After knowing about the original plans, many fans hoped Rockstar Games would have followed their initial gruesome endings. Meanwhile, some preferred the endings they got. Also, fans commented that modders can create mods to let them play these cut endings now that the source code has leaked.
