During the booming period of the gaming industry in the early 21st century, the GTA series, with its open - world setting, rich storyline, and diverse gameplay, held an important position in the gaming market and became a favorite among many players. At that time, many game developers and publishers were eager to create a game that could compete with GTA, and Blood in Vegas was a highly - anticipated project among them. However, it has now become a forgotten "rival of GTA".

Blood in Vegas was developed by Steel Monkeys, a British development team headquartered in Glasgow with a branch in Belarus. Previously, Steel Monkeys had participated in the development of games such as Off - Road Masters and Chevrolet Racing. Although these works were of acceptable quality, they were hardly comparable to the GTA series. In 2006, Steel Monkeys announced the development of Blood in Vegas, and this game was highly anticipated to change the team's position in the gaming industry.

The story of Blood in Vegas is set in the United States in the first decade of the 21st century. The protagonist, Vinnie, has a dishonorable past. After being released from prison, he finds that his younger brother, Tony, is in deep trouble. In order to rescue his brother, Vinnie gets involved in a conspiracy involving an American criminal organization. The main plot of the game is Vinnie's journey to Las Vegas. He needs to complete this journey within two days and will also visit cities such as New York on the way. Judging from the setting, the game's plot is full of tense and exciting elements and has the potential to attract players.

In terms of graphic design, Blood in Vegas showed an advantage when it was announced. Its graphic quality is surprisingly good and is even considered to be quite competitive compared with the new GTA series game GTA 4. In order to create a realistic game effect, Steel Monkeys adopted a number of advanced technologies during the development process. In 2006, the game announced that it would use the AGEIA PhysX technology to provide realistic physical effects for the game and at the same time use the SpeedTreeRT software package to make the appearance of plants in the game more realistic. In addition, Steel Monkeys also purchased two motion - capture systems to independently produce animations.

However, the development process of Blood in Vegas was full of twists and turns. The project was launched as early as 2003. After the Glasgow studio in charge of the development was closed, the development work was transferred to the Minsk branch. In 2008, the game was originally planned to be released on the PC platform, and later it was confirmed that it would also be launched on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. However, in June of the same year, the release time of the PlayStation 3 version was postponed. Although it was reported at that time that the PC and Xbox 360 versions were nearly completed, the developers did not disclose more information for a long time, nor did they release materials showing the actual effect of the game. In February 2009, IGN confirmed that the game was still in the production stage and the progress was slow.

In 2012, Steel Monkeys announced that the game was in the beta - testing stage, and there seemed to be hope for the game's release. But by 2015, the game was still in the development stage. After that, it became more and more difficult to find the trace of Steel Monkeys in the gaming industry. After the Glasgow team was disbanded, the Minsk branch became the only remaining part of the studio. The last post on the studio's Facebook stopped in 2017, and the official website could not be accessed. Although the LinkedIn information shows that the company is still in operation, the authenticity of this information is doubtful.

Now, Blood in Vegas has been forgotten by most players, and there is no sign that it will ever be released. This game, which was once highly anticipated, gradually disappeared from people's vision under the numerous difficulties in the development process and has become a regret in the development history of the gaming industry.