Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has published an in-depth report about the state of Grand Theft Auto 6 as well as a bunch of changes that have taken place at Rockstar.
Grand Theft Auto 6 will apparently feature two protagonists, one of which is a Latina female, with the two protagonists (the other assumed to be male) set to be influenced by bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde. The game is currently codenamed Project Americas and takes place in a fictional version of Miami. The game will apparently evolve over time with more cities being added and the game world is said to be already large with more interior locations than previous GTA games.
Unlike previous Grand Theft Auto games, the developers are being cautious about not punching down and making jokes about marginalised groups according to the article.
“Rockstar’s next game, Grand Theft Auto VI, will include a playable female protagonist for the first time, according to people familiar with the game. The woman, who is Latina, will be one of a pair of leading characters in a story influenced by the bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde, the people said. Developers are also being cautious not to “punch down” by making jokes about marginalized groups, the people said, in contrast to previous games.” said Schreier in his Bloomberg report.
This rare look inside Rockstar Games and the development of Grand Theft Auto VI is based on interviews with more than 20 people who either work there or left very recently. Read the whole story here: https://t.co/8VlTh63uNm
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 27, 2022
Internally, changes have been made to ensure workers aren’t overworked, with several managers outed based on behaviour that the company no longer deems to be acceptable. This is set to have a big impact on Grand Theft Auto V with the company no longer being deemed “a boys club” internally.
Whilst the game has been delayed from where it was originally supposed to release, due to the pandemic, it’s said within the article that a lot of this was also to do with the effort to improve working conditions.
Another interesting piece of info from the report is the fact that a Cops ‘n’ Crooks mode was planned for Grand Theft Auto Online but cancelled in the wake of the killing of George Flloyd. The mode was set to sort players into good guys and bad guys, but there are no plans to bring it back.
“Called Cops ‘n’ Crooks, the mode was a twist on the children’s game where players organize into teams of good guys and bad guys, but seemed especially tone-deaf during the global reckoning over police violence. Senior executives at the company, concerned about how the narrative might be interpreted during a time of heightened skepticism and mistrust of American police, put it aside. They still haven’t made plans to bring it back, according to people familiar with development.” said Schreier in his Bloomberg report.
