Real-world politics, in case you haven’t noticed, are particularly charged at the minute. It’s a climate that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser, who told GQ he’s “thankful” his company isn’t working on Grand Theft Auto 6 right now. The firm’s obviously always been brilliant at social commentary, but he admits that he doesn’t know how he’d approach a sequel in the era of Donald Trump and Brexit.
“It’s really unclear what we would even do with it, let alone how upset people would get with whatever we did,” he said. “Both intense liberal progression and intense conservatism are both very militant, and very angry. It is scary but it’s also strange, and yet both of them seem occasionally to veer towards the absurd. It’s hard to satirise for those reasons. Some of the stuff you see is straightforwardly beyond satire.”
Houser added that due to the rate at which things in the political spectrum are changing, the game would be “out of date within two minutes”. When you consider that it’s taken the company upwards of five years to release Red Dead Redemption 2, that’s just not going to work, is it? All that said, Rockstar’s writing is always so sharp that we would genuinely love to see what it came up with right now – there’s no doubt it’d rub people the wrong way, though.
[source gq-magazine.co.uk]
Comments 69
The whole premise of GTA since day 1, or maybe GTA3, has been to rub people the wrong way, so I don't think he's too worried about that. I think his problem is the world has become too absurd to satirize. The game would seem bland compared to the reality we live in. No problem with a game set 150 years ago.
@rjejr True. But I think now more than ever people are just so sensitive, more than they've ever been. Grand Theft Auto has always ripped into absolutely everybody, and personally I'd like to see how they'd do it in 2018, but I think it would get a more agitated reaction now than even past games.
That said I also agree that GTA has always tried to push things to the extreme, but with people like Trump... Like how do you go "crazier" than that? Dude's already absurd as it is.
Could always do another Vice City game instead, I'm sure that would be popular.
It's true though. Considering how insane the world is, they'd have to push it to a ridiculous limit to make it worse than it is. I think Trey and Matt said something similar with South Park, being that it's impossible to make jokes out of it considering how inherently absurd the whole situation already is.
''Both intense liberal progression and intense conservatism are both very militant, and very angry. It is scary but it’s also strange, and yet both of them seem occasionally to veer towards the absurd.''
So much truth.
At least a Knaxit is out of the question. Here we go BABY!
Getting any more absurd than current reality would push the franchise into direct competition with Saints Row.
I think it's just their excuse to not release another GTA for half a decade, personally, using some fairly accurate cultural landscape analysis to deflect some of the "but I want it yesterday" backlash from those who are asking about GTA6 without even having played Red Dead 2 yet.
@LieutenantFatman i would love a vice city remake, my favourite of the GTA games although I haven't started V yet.
Dunno why he had to mention Trump, outrage mobs were going to clean up GTA 6 with or without his name.
There's always been people upset with every GTA game. People are a lot more vocal now about being offended, but I can't see that stopping Rockstar from making another GTA.
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi
Easily my favourite as well, being set in the 80s made a huge difference of course. And that radio station music, love it.
We already have people at Kotaku complaining about how police in Spider-Man are too nice and not reflective of reality. Can imagine the kind of nonsense, from both sides, that would be flung at the devs from people with no sense of humour or imagination
With or without the current U.S. President, the world has become scarily divisive and full of anger, with a wave of far-right nationalism spreading throughout Europe as well as America. I think Rockstar can still satirize the current climate - because let's be honest it's better to laugh at the absurdity of things than it is to cry. The real world is offensive, not a video-game that's a piss-take of it.
@mookysam I don't know much about Europe but in America I blame Trump sure things were not perfect, but with him things went from bad to hell since he took the presidency and that's not coincidence, sad days we're living indeed
(((SOROS))) bought franchises like GTA and South Park to spread his globalist agenda.
All the hurricanes and earthquakes are created by him as well, he is using heavy machinery to do that.
@Neolit
In these years it's hard to satirise because:
1) many nations are ruled by clowns proud of being pure idiots.
2) many nations are full of pure idiots proud of being ruled by clowns.
3) internet is a free, powerful mean that emphasize the worst part of the people, especially of clowns and idiots.
He absolutely hits the nail on the head here, though tbf Trump didn't start the oversensitivity thing - he just triggered everyone who was infected with it with his doolally unfiltered thoughts 😁 Since South Park started when I was 9, I grew up watching that (my alltime favourite show probably), and playing GTAs with my brother, so I don't understand this whole easily offended thing and it rather annoys me at times. It's one of the reasons why I tend to use only pushsquare and gematsu for gaming news, as many others have gotten so political (for want of a better word), and I just can't be doing with the moral pretentiousness.
Jason Shreier is offended by this article haha
He has a point for sure, and frankly, I'm kinda glad it's not being made in this era either. In my opinion, both sides of the political climate are so loud, with seemingly everyone with an internet connection saying something about it, that whatever message or satire would just be another bit of noise among the rest.
I'll be the first to admit that I may not be qualified to speak about politics, but I wonder what can really be added to an already escalated discussion.
Good decision. Trump and Brexit show that reality is stranger the fiction, so it’s beyond satire. Maybe they could go really dark with it like a modern day Fallout.
wherever GTA 6 will be set I would put money on it being over halfway done by now. would love for Rockstar to drop a bomb & have it out by this time next year. I reckon 80s Miami is where it will be as a guess.
@DLB3 He’s probably referring to antifa, who do a lot more than complain a lot.
@CK97
He says 'in the age of Trump' which sounds neutral and I think its actually the GQ journalist who says that.
No doubt people will blame R for taking political side or something I guess
@DLB3 @Wesker He never says anything about extremism, though. He just says that both sides occasionally veer towards the absurd, which is true.
@get2sammyb I was just pointing out that Houser was correct when he said ‘Both intense liberal progression and intense conservatism are both very militant, and very angry’. It’s true that it exists on both sides.
Very true for the age we're living in now! Imagine what it'll be like 10+ years from now! Trump just brought out more hate in the world, and with it, brought more complaining from people...more angry people. Trying not to offend, many women just say sexual assault or something else and use sexism for every claim to get their way, cops only get recognized for the wrong doings, not many people have respect for others or even themselves. The world changed since the first GTA game, but complaints about games started back in the Genesis/Super NES era with Mortal Kombat's violence, and before that, the violence and offensive material was still everywhere...it's just being focused and realized more...plus, we're all sue happy to make the quick bucks!!!! Other than that, this is just Rockstar's way of saying that they haven't started GTA 6 yet and wanted to start political satire (granted I hate Trump and think he's making a fool out of us too), but even if they wait another 2 years, what will be their reason if he gets re-elected...wait another 4 years...who will be the next president after him? To me, it's just something that they're almost wanting to drop the whole series, or just take a long scheduled break from it and start new or other projects.
grand theft auto .best video games franchises ever.next to God of war.word up son.
I agree that both sides can be absurd, but they are vastly different in how they react. From the left you mostly get moral or ethical condemnation, it's more about spreading and creating awareness, from the right however ... you get death threats, rape threats, hacking, harassment of every possible kind.
So 'yeah', while one party is absurd every now and then, the other is constantly dumb, violent and vile. You don't have to guess which one is which.
With so many right-wingers in the gaming world today, a GTA game poking fun at modern politics would launch a tonne of misery towards the company.
@MistressTonberry I'm not sure that blatant racism, misogyny, homophobia etc can be written off as 'doolally unfiltered thoughts'. The main reason Trump got elected is because during the election campaign, everyone was too busy making jokes about his hair to actually call out the fact he's a sexual predator. If you see reacting to such vile views as 'oversensitive' then you might need to reevaluate what's important to you.
@DLB3 Too far to the left or the right is probably equally bad, but currently, right wing politics is definitely a greater threat to the world, in my opinion. I’m counting the days until Trump is out of office, and praying every day that somehow we manage to get this People’s Vote and turn the tide on Brexit.
They should do a new version of GTA London or Vice city as others have suggested, I just hope they don't copy other devs and start making battle royal games
@David187 1980s Miami will be great.or early 1990s new york.gta best franchises ever.people this day are too sensitive.trum is a idiot.rockstar next year announced GTA 6.word up son
This is everything that is wrong with the world right now. Or at least our Western society.
Why can’t people just create what they like and ignore the haters?
The problem with the hysterical people is that the media amplifies their idiocy to the masses and big companies completely capitulate to their every whim. And if you give in to their tantrums, they will tantrum more to get their way. The hystericals need to grow up and get over themselves.
Yeah, I’m a grumpy old man, but good things are being ruined by stupid people. And yes, there are stupid people on all sides.
@JLPick 'many women just say sexual assault or something else and use sexism for every claim to get their way'
Wow. Please tell me you are trolling and do not really hold those beliefs. The reason why so many women are now coming forward is that there's finally starting to be a culture where it is OK for women to speak out without fearing for their reputation or livelihood. Complaining about women 'using sexism' is a moot point. By eradicating sexism wherever it creeps in, those 'many women' (a vague and unhelpful estimate) wouldn't be able to 'use sexism to get their own way' as there would be no sexism to 'use'.
@DLB3 @Wesker personally, I think the problem is greater on the left because of the numbers.
Fascism and Communism are two sides of the same extremist coin. They both try to control their people and end up killing those who disagree with them.
The problem is that around 10 - 15% of people relate to the extreme left, whereas about 1% relate to the extreme right (as far as I understand).
So whilst Fascism clearly has the “we want to kill/expel everyone not like us” mantra, which is dangerous, the larger percent is on the left who have the “we want to silence/control/oppress everyone who is not like us” mantra.
Ultimately, whichever one of these groups gets into power, it results in their opponents being killed. And the rise of one sides ultimately ends up creating greater numbers of the other to counter it because humans are stupid.
We need rational voices to counter these extremist views.
@get2sammyb "people are just so sensitive"
It's not about becoming more sensitive, it's that people have completely forgotten how to talk, listen and have a conversation. Humans have devolved from asking "Why do you think that? How can we make things better? What do we do now? to just calling each other names and insulting people who don't agree with us. The fact that people even have to ever type the words "agree to disagree" shows how far we've fallen, that should be the understood baseline, we should always be able to agree to disagree and talk about it, that should be understood, but now we just attack, no compassion, no sympathy, no empathy, no caring. The entire planet is "Lord of the Flies" and Trump confiscated the conch.
@DLB3 "House of Cards"
I've never seen that, but even "Real Housewives of..." can't compete with the real world these days. Not "Jersey Shore". Not even "Party Down South". All you need these days is Twitter.
What he confirmed is no GTA 6 for at least another half decade.
Just an excuse to keep milking Gta V and most likely RDR 2 now.
@nessisonett There's a certain irony that you react this way, given that my post was related to oversensitivity. Look, this is a gaming website for gaming-related debate, not a place for angry political debate, which is why I won't engage with you in reply re opinions of Trump. It's also why I phrased my original opinion on here in a humourous, flippant way, rather than doing an in depth political analysis; people don't come to a gaming site for that! Seeing as you seem to think patronising me is ok, then you may want to look up the definition of libel, because if you're gonna call someone a sexual predator, then you really ought to have proof and not just hot air!
@DLB3 Thanks, I know, but my Netflix backlog is almost as big as my gaming backlog so I doubt I'll ever get to it, though I'm sure I would enjoy it.
@nessisonett Why would he be joking? It happens a lot. Many women are honest, but with some of the cases that blow up, you can literally find them confessing it was all a lie. The world is a mess from all angles, and that’s what makes it so complicated. When someone brings something up, we need to listen with due process like any other crime. Big problems happens when we either jump to rejecting or believing someone with a serious claim that deeply affects someone else’s life.
@MistressTonberry https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/us/donald-trump-tape-transcript.html
@JLPick The next president of the USA will be The Rock or Tyler Perry as Madea.
'how upset people would get with whatever we did,”
I think a lot of the comments are missing the point. It's not really just about politics but more generally people get offended easily now.
With that said Rockstar, go make Table Tennis 2.
GTA 6 will be the GTA to end all GTAs.
So... If you are from USA, do not vote forTrump if you want GTA6. I do not mind him as I'm not from USA and he is kind of funny chap. Brexit... Was that a clue that next GTA will be in USA and UK same time? USA for cop chases and gunfights and UK for heists and stabbing/moped robberies?
@DLB3
No. They mention the political climate and how its influenced* everyone reaction to everything going from politics to sociology to sex gender, orientation etc etc
Edit: maybe exacerbated is more appropriate
@DLB3
I meant it s exacerbated all sort of different views.
@DLB3
I'm sorry I'm aware I'm not being clear. It's about the trends in such an era. Trend of fake news and social media agenda. Trend of fake outrage to promote an idea or an ideal. It's the habits our society has come to get used to derived from that political climate but its not the political climate that really matters.
@beemo those were my first thoughts too!
@nessisonett While I'm on your side buddy, the fact that DT was a sexual predator was out there during the campaign (grab em by the **** etc). The ugly truth is, unfortunately, that his voters don't care about that in the slightest. They seem to support him no matter what.
@David187 Yeah I would find it laughable if GTA6 isn't already far along in development, regardless of public comments. GTA V is 5 years old now.
@nessisonett Yes, agreed this shows that Trump is an embarrassment to the male gender - he's always talked twaddle - but although this makes for incredibly funny reading, it is hardly evidence of an actual sexual assault! Anyway, I'm not the enemy here - I made one flippant comment about oversensitivity in the modern era; no need to pounce on me like we're having a collective Trump fantasy 😉 At the end of the day, then what I am advocating for is a politics free gaming space.
It’s a crazy era, I’ll leave it at that.
Rockstar Co-Founder Thankful He's Not Making Grand Theft Auto 6 in Political Correctness Overload Era
FTFY
@PS_Nation Love it!!!! I would assume Harrison Ford! He already killed as president in Air Force One!!!! Other than that, I'd choose Alice Cooper!!!!!
@nessisonett Actually, had plenty to say in the statement, but it goes into more...basically with laws and vice versa. The 'sexism' thing I was starting to get to is what some (and I state some) are doing to where others (including men) don't do. Other than that, what I was getting at is basically the laws in general about how different races, genders and beliefs are treated differently...person is stabbed, people are accused in the same way...a white male, a black male, a white female, black female or a completely different race in general. No matter what, the crimes don't agree and there are too many different judges that take it easy on a different person. No matter what race or sex somebody is, they should all be given the same crime. I wasn't saying that I'm glad certain women are coming forward with the claims against certain pigs, and I'd also wish that men would start coming forward too, but sometimes it gets to me if some are actual, to where others are just (I want some money and attention)...and this is going into men and women in general. Everybody wants a piece of money. I could go on, but this isn't probably the discussion to have here! Anyways, hope I clarified my statement a little better for you, hard to write on here without going onto a full blown rant, but 'no' I wasn't trolling, just stating what I see going on around.
They'd have more material now than ever to work with. Some idiots on the right would get annoyed by what gets made (look at Far Cry 5 or pretty much any game that has a female in the lead), some idiots on the left would get mad (if it has a single scantily clad woman look out, devs, you're sexist and if it doesn't have a black male in the lead you're racist). People on both sides of the fence would give Rockstar some comedy gold, and Rockstar has never shied away from controversy, no reason to start now. I have a hard time believing a GTA VI in the Trump era wouldn't sell because a few twitter clowns (doesn't matter the political leaning) call for a boycott, which seems to happen weekly now anyway.
@ShadowofSparta
Don't say that, only the right is the problem. The left is perfect and never makes a mountain out of a molehill about anything.
@DLB3 They also love to forget a little group known as the proud boys exist; a group thst only abides by and endorses violence, formed by ultra right wing radical gavin mcinnes.
@GraveLordXD As per community rules
Do not use profanity; Use of unsavoury language including profanity and swearing is not acceptable, please remember that this website has users of all ages.
So lets watch the language
Thanks for understanding
@GKO900 Dude just stop. He literally did zero things to you to make it hell. You're part of the problem.
People really did get their brain fried in 2016. Just look at this comments section, you US people are posting stuff that's way more crazy than any GTA script ever was.
Just a tip for everyone: stop talking about left vs. right. You oversimplify reality by doing that and it pretty much always polarizes discussions. Just don't do it anymore and you'll see life will improve.
@LN78 Yeah you're too far gone.
What Dan Houser says about GTA6 may be 'tounge in cheek.' Well i quess he could be serious, but then i think Mr. Houser would be taking GTA games too seriously.
Many hours have i consumed playing GTA since purchasing GTA 3 in 2002. Lots of crazy driving and general psyco mayhem and zero time thinking about politics while the game is on and the controller is in my hand.
Politics and the real world will probably always have the extreme left and right. Thankfully to some extent those 2 extremes seem to cancel out each other and life goes on.
Looks at comments under article
Oh boy.
It's like a society-wide Gamergate every day in the U.S.
@NintendoFan4Lyf hit em with the hein
@playstation1995 says the guy who misspelled Trump and put seven periods in his comment. Word up son
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