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Michael McWhertor is a New York-based journalist and editor with more than 20 years of experience covering games, industry events, technology, movies, and TV.
'We run the risk of dating ourselves'
GTA 6 won't 'directly' address Trump or COVID-19, Rockstar says
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Rockstar Games is known for bringing biting and often puerile satire to its Grand Theft Auto games. The 13-year span between Grand Theft Auto 5 and Grand Theft Auto 6 means there's plenty of American culture to interrogate or poke fun at, but a few things will be off the table, according to new previews of Rockstar's upcoming game. Two things that GTA 6 won't directly address, according to a new report: Donald Trump’s rise to political power and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many GTA players will be happy to hear that, as the games often serve as a fantastical escape that reflects a distorted version of reality. But Rockstar has other reasons for steering clear of real-world historical events.
"We run the risk of dating ourselves in a sort of awkward way," Rockstar North studio head Rob Nelson told The New York Times earlier this summer. "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?"
It sounds like Rockstar may still make some oblique references to the rise of mainstreaming conspiracy theories in our current culture, an adjacent acknowledgment of Trump and coronavirus.
Nelson addressed the approach to satire in a separate preview on IGN: "Because we work on such a long development cycle, we have to not jump on stuff and instead choose our angle of approach carefully and decide what things are going to be a bit more timeless. We’re not a TV show coming out every week or every month. We have to be careful that what we’re choosing to satirize is not going to feel dated in a weird way. I think those broader things are OK to satirize, but very specific political issues or memes will date fast."
Previous Grand Theft Auto 6 trailers have leaned into popular memes, though, including what appeared to be a reference to the "Florida Joker" and a few viral TikTok clips.
But Nelson emphasized an attempt to keep GTA feeling "timeless," even avoiding contemporary slang to ensure that Rockstar's next game doesn't feel dated.
Grand Theft Auto 6 will be released on Nov. 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.