The trailer opened with a scene of a highly modern city.
Unlike GTA: San Andreas, the visuals in GTA: Chapter of Liberty City were far more detailed.
Players watching the livestream couldn't quite tell where reality ended and the game began.
San Andreas had leaned toward a stylized, comic-like art direction—high saturation and distinctive color palettes gave it a look that was both realistic and surreal.
That had been partly a compromise for the hardware limitations of the time, and also an early experiment in 2D rendering techniques using Unreal Engine—a foundation for similar future titles.
That style had been well-received by players, who loved its fresh aesthetic.
But this new GTA took a fully realistic approach in its visual presentation.
Some viewers watching the trailer even felt a faint sense of familiarity from the cityscape.
...
...
As the trailer continued, more recognizable landmark buildings appeared.
And then, the unmistakable one finally showed up:
The Statue of Liberty.
An icon of America.
The moment players saw it, everyone immediately knew which city it was.
"New York!"
"It's New York City!"
"So GTA is telling its next story in New York? Now that's something to look forward to!"
The trailer lasted only around two minutes.
Not a single character was shown during that time.
That's because the game was still in early development—city construction wasn't even complete. What players saw was just a rough environment with a few signature NYC landmarks built in.
These weren't even final assets—just a prototype the American team had been rushing to produce.
In Takayuki's vision, all buildings in the game would be fully explorable. Right now, they were just static textures—placeholders without any real function.
Still, even with just that glimpse, players were thrilled.
A story set in New York? That brought even more immersion.
Then, the game's full title appeared:
GTA: Chapter of Liberty City.
Liberty City—a fitting name if there ever was one.
In the previous game, San Andreas had been a fictional mashup of three major U.S. cities.
This time, the story would unfold in New York, the financial and cultural heart of America.
Whether you've been there or not, there's something deeply captivating about the city.
And it truly lived up to its name: Liberty.
Love it or hate it, New York is undeniably one of the top cities in the world.
To experience a game set in such a place had players more excited than ever.
As the trailer ended, Umihane Shiratori returned to the stage.
"So, what do you think of our upcoming game?"
"Give us the release date already! I can't wait!"
"I live in New York—I'm gonna look for my house in the game!"
"I wanna climb the Statue of Liberty and shoot some bleep!"
"Eww~"
"I'm going on a rampage down Wall Street!"
The livestream's comment section exploded with wild ideas from players.
Anyone unfamiliar with the context might have thought they were watching a crime confession hotline.
But the audience knew better.
That's exactly what they did in San Andreas.
In those fictional versions of major American cities, every player had left their own chaotic mark.
Years later, San Andreas still had over 300,000 concurrent players daily across Battle.net and GS consoles.
And that was a single-player game—no online mode—yet players still loved exploring it endlessly.
That was due to the game's excellent design and its insane level of freedom, amplified by a community of passionate modders who kept expanding and enriching the world of San Andreas.
And don't think mods were only for the PC version—thanks to Takayuki's insistence, the GS console had its own Creative Workshop just like the Battle.net platform.
Any mod uploaded to the Workshop could be downloaded and played across any Gamestar platform.
Seeing the crowd's reaction, Umihane Shiratori felt vindicated for taking the stage.
All the anxiety from before was gone—he now spoke with confidence and calm.
"I know you're excited. But I know you want more than hype—you want us to deliver a great game. So please be patient. The day will come, and when it does, we hope to give you the best experience possible."
He smiled, then quickly stepped off the stage—not giving the crowd any time to react.
The room went quiet for a second.
Then, whistles and calls started erupting.
"More info! We want more!"
"Umihane, you bastard! You unleash the beast that is GTA, and then walk away without showing us more? May you step in dog poop!"
"I'm mailing you razor blades!"
The players yelled and screamed, venting their frustration.
Was that really it? That teaser was way too short!
It was almost painful.
The next speaker, unfortunately, had to absorb all that leftover rage.
He did his best to calm everyone down, promising that more GTA content would be released gradually and regularly, and players could follow development updates on the official website.
Gamestar Electronic Entertainment would keep everyone posted.
That helped take the edge off a bit.
Also helping matters: the next game revealed was the newest Pokémon title.
A beloved franchise for many.
Unlike the violence-heavy, adults-only GTA, Pokémon was more family-friendly and had a broader audience.
If GTA was like adrenaline for adults, Pokémon was a universal happy pill.
This new game would be set in a brand-new world with an open-world structure—players would explore a large map to catch and discover Pokémon.
The concept was very appealing, and it cooled the crowd's frustration.
GTA: Chapter of Liberty City might still be far off, but the new Pokémon game was confirmed for release at the end of this year.
It wasn't a technically demanding project, so development was progressing smoothly.
Even on a yearly release schedule, it wouldn't be a problem.