Progressive and Political Correctness in Miami - Schreier on GTA V
Jason Schreier, a Bloomberg journalist, asked Rockstar Games employees for details about Grand Theft Auto VI. He did not forget to ask them about the company's working conditions. Below there is the main from the material:
GTA VI
- Code name - Project Americas.
- The game will be very different from GTAV.
- One of the two rake characters is a Hispanic woman.
- It looks like the second character will be a man, as the plot is inspired by the adventures of Bonnie and Clyde.
- At first, the game world should be bigger than in the previous GTA parts - it was planned to have large parts of the North and South America. As a result, the map was cut down in and around Miami.
- However, the world of GTAVI remains large, and indoor locations will be larger than in past games of the franchise.
- The company will regularly add new missions and cities upon release.
- Developers are trying to make fewer jokes about marginalized groups of people. Several employees have noted that you can't make fun of today's America - it's a satire in and of itself.
Rockstar Games has spent the last four years overhauling its culture and working to become a kinder, more progressive company. But what does that actual look like? And what does it mean for company's next game, Grand Theft Auto VI? My latest feature: https://t.co/8VlTh63uNm
- Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 27, 2022
Game development
- Development is slower than fans and studio veterans expected. This is due to COVID-19 and improved working conditions, including restructuring the design department and a commitment to overseeing overtime.
- GTAVI is run by three design directors, causing many elements of the game to constantly change and contradict each other. For example, the combat system is still undergoing changes.
- The game has been in production in one form or another since 2014.
- Analysts say that GTAVI could be released from April 2023 to March 2024, but developers are skeptical.
- The developers interviewed do not know the exact release date and assume that the game will be out at least two years, that is, not before 2024.
Production on Grand Theft Auto VI has been slower than expected, great due to pandemic but also due to these changes, as employees are accustomed to working at this new Rockstar. But many can be brilliant, and higher than all and that cultural change is well worth it.
- Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 27, 2022
The New Face of Rockstar
- After accusations of overwork and inappropriate executive behavior, Rockstar became a path to becoming a progressive corporation. One employee stated that Rockstar has transformed from a men's club to a real company.
- Employees' morale is higher than ever. However, some of them doubt that Rockstar is capable of continuing to produce games that are taking the sales charts by storm.
- Some employees are still trying to figure out how to make games at the current Rockstar, and are asking what GTA will look like in the current reality.
- Rockstar has done more to improve its culture than other companies accused of similar sins, notably Activision Blizzard, Riot Games and Ubisoft.
Rockstar's overhaul started in 2018, when the roof was called from its cooking, bullying, and frame-house antics. The company had ousted managers placed in abuse and laid cut down on overtime. One man calls for "boys' club transformed into a real company."
- Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 27, 2022
Deferred Mode for GTA Online
- In the summer of 2020, Rockstar quietly deferred Cops 'n' Crooks mode for GTA Online. This mode was a reimagining of the children's game, where participants are divided into teams of bandits and custodians of order.
- The company admitted that it was inappropriate to release Cops 'n' Crooks against the backdrop of the death of George Floyd. They say the American public, concerned about police violence, may not understand.
- Rockstar has no plans to let go of the mode just yet.
Rockstar removed transphobic jokes from the most recent re-release of GTAV and quietly canceled the online mode called Cops 'n' Crooks after George Floyd protests. Grand Theft Auto VI will have a female Latina protagonist - first playable woman in modern Rockstar history.
- Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 27, 2022
