GTA 6 Won’t Directly Address Trump Or The COVID Pandemic

The Grand Theft Auto series has always been known for its provocative satire of American culture, but don't expect GTA 6 to explicitly tackle any pivotal moments in recent American history--particularly the election of President Donald Trump or the COVID-19 pandemic that shook the world. Speaking to The New York Times, Rockstar developers said that GTA 6 would not directly address either of those flashpoints of modern American politics, with Rockstar North co-head Rob Nelson saying: “We run the risk of dating ourselves in a sort of awkward way." Nelson continues: "So we have to look at things and go, 'What is going to have a timeless sort of quality that will speak very easily to relatable sort of human folly and foibles and will be remembered as part of this time?'” This approach is par for the course for how Rockstar has handled political themes and subject matter in previous GTA games. The GTA games take place in an alternate United States (if the alternate names for locales like Vice City didn't give that away), and GTA generally doesn't name-drop real-life politicians or disasters. Instead, the series tends to skewer cultural trends and broader political ideologies. Looking b…