Rockstar plans to steer GTA 6 away from close recreations of current political figures and events, while still filling its Florida-inspired world with political material. The studio wants its satire to be exaggerated enough to stay relevant when the game arrives, rather than tied to a short-lived news cycle, according to Eurogamer’s report on an interview with Rockstar narrative chief Rupert Humphries.
Humphries said earlier GTA games rarely focused on national politics, with Homeland Security and the Patriot Act playing a central role in GTA 4 because of post-9/11 New York. For GTA 6, Rockstar wants to avoid getting too specific about any person, event or movement, but the game can still feature election signs, campaign robocalls, political commercials and radio talk shows. The comments offer another glimpse of the game’s world alongside its depictions of Lucia and Jason.
Rather than simply mirror real life, Humphries said, Rockstar aims to take an issue it wants to explore and exaggerate the part it finds interesting until its absurdity becomes clear. That approach also reflects the game’s long development: the team has worked on it for years and years, and Humphries said it should not jump on a trend that might dominate for just six months. GTA 6’s political satire, then, is not absent; it is being filtered through fictional situations designed to outlast the headlines that inspired them.
