The next installment of the “Grand Theft Auto” video game series will reportedly “scale back” racist and sexist content and will include the series’ first ever Latina, female protagonist.
The character “will be part of a duo of main characters inspired by ‘Bonnie and Clyde,'” according to Bloomberg.
GTA VI will also reportedly take place in a fictional version of Miami and South Florida. The last Grand Theft Auto game, GTA V, took place in fictional version of Los Angeles, California.
'Grand Theft Auto VI' to have female hero, scale back racist, sexist jokes: report https://t.co/ps0v4Grd1C pic.twitter.com/enM4t06aJ7
— New York Post (@nypost) July 27, 2022
Rockstar Games, the developers of the Grand Theft Auto series, are apparently “abandoning the series’ record of making crude, potentially offensive jokes about minority groups.”
This would be largely different than previous GTA games, which allowed for extreme violence, prostitution, mass killings of civilians and police officers, as well as racist and sexist commentary.
Gamers online slammed Rockstar Games’ liberalization of the GTA franchise, noting that extreme violence would seem strange if it was politically correct. “You will treat women and people of color with respect… while running them over with a tank,” one Twitter user wrote.
“Relieved to see that the character I will use to shoot an innocent person in the face and steal their car will at least care about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion standards,” another user added.
Rockstar Games apparently is attempting to improve working conditions after some reports emerged alleging excessively long working hours and a supposedly “frat boy” culture, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The change has seemingly stunted GTA VI’s development, frustrating two Rockstar Games employees into quitting their jobs.
Rockstar’s last entry in the series, Grand Theft Auto V, was released in 2013. At the time, the game was hailed by libertarians and conservatives for its politically incorrect humor and plot lines involving corrupt or inept federal and local law enforcement entities.
In 2018, Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser – who has since left the company – said he was “thankful” not to be releasing GTA VI during the current political climate, saying “Both intense liberal progression and intense conservatism are both very militant, and very angry,” and would make it challenging to produce a satirical video game.
