GTA VI takes on politics but leaves out real politicians

Grand Theft Auto VI takes on current social themes, but leaves out real politicians. Rupert Humphries of Rockstar Games says so in LOVE magazine. The main reason is the long development time of a GTA game.

Humphries is senior vice president of narrative at Rockstar. IGN Benelux reported on this part of the interview on 6 October. Earlier, Humphries told the same magazine that the satire in GTA VI has to be larger than life.

No national politics

Earlier GTA games never really focused on national politics, Humphries tells LOVE. The rise of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act did matter for GTA IV, he says. That was mainly because New York was a front line for those issues after 9/11.

Rockstar wants its games to feel specific to the moment they come out, according to Humphries. At the same time, they should not be a direct reflection of the real world. That is why the studio does not want to be too specific about any person, event or movement, he says.

Fiction instead of real people

Political and social subjects do not disappear from GTA VI. Rockstar handles them through fictional characters and situations. According to Humphries, that is also a practical choice.

A character clearly based on a real politician could be outdated by the time the game comes out. A GTA game takes years to make, IGN Benelux points out.

Instead, Rockstar focuses on the culture and quirks of Florida, where the research for GTA VI took place. The team spoke with all kinds of people and used those experiences to shape Leonida. Humphries says the studio tried to fill its world with the characters and culture wars it needs to feel alive.

Billboards, robocalls and talk shows

Politics still comes up regularly in the game, IGN Benelux writes. Players can come across election billboards and receive robocalls from political campaigns. Political ads play on the radio, and political talk shows discuss social issues.

Rockstar does not copy a known current event, according to IGN Benelux. The studio exaggerates the themes and gives them its own satirical twist. Which campaigns or candidates appear in the game is not known.

That fits how earlier games handled satire. GTA V poked fun at torture, government agencies and secret locations, IGN Benelux recalls. GTA IV leaned heavily on the mood in New York after 9/11.

GTA VI comes out on 19 November.