Grand Theft Auto was originally a racing game called Race’n’Chase. However, a glitch made the police cars go crazy, ramming the player. This glitch was so popular with testers that they rebuilt the game around it, creating GTA.
GTA Born from a Glitch: The Race'n'Chase Bug That Changed Gaming
One of the most iconic video game franchises in history owes its existence to a programming mistake. When DMA Design (later Rockstar North) began developing Grand Theft Auto on April 4, 1995, they weren't trying to create a crime simulator. They were making a racing game called Race'n'Chase.
The concept was straightforward: players could either race as civilians in illegal street races or play as cops trying to stop them. But there was a problem. The game was boring. Testers weren't having fun, and the developers knew they had a dud on their hands.
Enter the Psycho Cops
Then something unexpected happened. Due to poor pathfinding code, the AI-controlled police cars started behaving erratically. Instead of properly pursuing players to pull them over, the cops went absolutely berserk—ramming directly into the player's vehicle, causing constant crashes and chaos.
It was a glitch. A bug. The kind of thing developers normally scramble to fix. But testers had a different reaction: they loved it.
Players abandoned the linear missions just to trigger police chases. The non-stop crashing was hilarious and thrilling in ways the original racing concept never achieved. What was meant to be a flaw became the most entertaining part of the game.
Rebuilding Around Chaos
Instead of fixing the bug, DMA Design made a pivotal decision: they leaned into it. The aggressive police behavior was tweaked and turned into a core feature. The entire game was reconceived around this chaotic pursuit system.
Race'n'Chase transformed into something completely different. By the time it launched in October 1997, it had a new name—Grand Theft Auto—and a new identity as an open-world crime game where evading increasingly aggressive cops was central to the experience.
A Happy Accident That Defined a Genre
That pathfinding glitch didn't just save one game. It spawned a multi-billion dollar franchise that revolutionized open-world gaming. The aggressive police pursuit system became one of GTA's defining features, evolving across every sequel but always maintaining that original spirit of chaotic mayhem.
Sometimes the best ideas come from mistakes. In GTA's case, a bug that made virtual cops drive like maniacs accidentally created one of gaming's most enduring thrills: the high-speed chase with nowhere to hide and everything to lose.