The Grand Theft Auto series has always been known for its provocative satire of American culture, but don’t expect GTA 6 to explicitly tackle any pivotal moments in recent American history–particularly the election of President Donald Trump or the COVID-19 pandemic that shook the world.
Speaking to The New York Times, Rockstar developers said that GTA 6 would not directly address either of those flashpoints of modern American politics, with Rockstar North co-head Rob Nelson saying: “We run the risk of dating ourselves in a sort of awkward way.” Nelson continues: “So we have to look at things and go, ‘What is going to have a timeless sort of quality that will speak very easily to relatable sort of human folly and foibles and will be remembered as part of this time?’”
This approach is par for the course for how Rockstar has handled political themes and subject matter in previous GTA games. The GTA games take place in an alternate United States (if the alternate names for locales like Vice City didn’t give that away), and GTA generally doesn’t name-drop real-life politicians or disasters. Instead, the series tends to skewer cultural trends and broader political ideologies.
Looking back at Grand Theft Auto 4, the 2008 game never mentioned George W. Bush or 9/11–instead, this universe’s America had a fictional conservative president named Joe Lawton, and vague references to a previous terrorist attack were occasionally made. There was also the in-universe cartoon show Republican Space Rangers, while talk radio channels satirized conservative talk radio. Should Trump or COVID ultimately get referenced in GTA 6, it certainly won’t be by name.
Rockstar North senior vice president for narrative Rupert Humphries also noted to the NYT that conspiracy theories became more prolific and mainstream in the past several years since GTA 6 has been in development. It’s also known that social media will be a big theme and story element in GTA 6. Humpries describes the game as a “sort of critique” but “also like a love letter” to Miami and South Florida, so there’s plenty for GTA to mine comedy from.
Netflix just released an extended look at Grand Theft Auto 6, which launches on November 19. The video confirmed that the game will bring back the six-star Wanted level from older titles in the series, and you can indeed pet the dog.
