To say the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI game is highly anticipated is like saying water is wet. As of this month, estimated pre-orders have reached 6 million copies, with PS5 pre-orders accounting for 4.8 million alone. But is it possible that this latest addition to the Grand Theft Auto franchise could actually have a negative impact on the U.S. economy?

Waking up and going to work on GTA 6 release day might be a little difficult, knowing the game is sitting on the console or PC, ready to play and yet out of reach. Since the game has been in development in one stage or another for over ten years, impatience is understandable. And depending on a player’s schedule, both at work and at home, it’s possible that they may only eke out a few hours in the game before heading to bed. 

Those considerations might be at play as experts predict just how many people could call out of work on November 19. According to online reports, up to 1.5 million people might call in sick, utilize available vacation time, or cash in paid time off. Some companies, says the Wall Street Journal, have even incorporated the release date into their PTO packages. Either way, it seems that companies are bracing themselves for a weakened workforce, with swaths of employees taking the day off to dedicate themselves to this new Grand Theft Auto chapter. 

Experts predict millions could be calling out of work on ‘GTA 6’ release day

The first Grand Theft Auto game launched back in 1997, and since then the franchise has totaled billions of dollars in revenue and millions of copies sold. The most recent offering, Grand Theft Auto V, released in 2013 and brought in almost $10 billion in revenue to Rockstar Games. Grand Theft Auto games offer players the opportunity to explore an open world, from Liberty City, to San Andreas, and the most recent location, Vice City. Alongside the main storyline, each game has a variety of missions and side quests to complete, meaning there is multiple hours of gameplay available. 

In Grand Theft Auto VI, the story takes its inspiration from infamous couple Bonnie and Clyde, with protagonists Jason and Lucia choosing to work together to create a new life for themselves. For anyone familiar with Grand Theft Auto – or even just the title – it’s not surprising that this includes turning to crime. When things get dangerous, the pair has to lean on each other to survive. Players take control of Jason and Lucia respectively as the story develops, and in addition to the main story, there are side quests to take on, missions to execute, and activities to discover. 

With all that in mind, it seems that anticipation for Grand Theft Auto VI could have real economic consequences, and not just for the studio. But the enthusiasm is completely understandable, especially considering how long players have been waiting for the game to arrive. Add in an exciting new story, including Lucia in her unique role as a fully realized female protagonist, and players being eager to get started isn’t so surprising at all. 

The post ‘GTA 6’ Could Cause 1.5 Million Americans to Miss Work on Release Day, According to Experts appeared first on VICE.

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A recent Bloomberg report has sparked speculation among some players that GTA 6 could be unfinished just weeks before launch. However, comments about Rockstar continuing to make changes to the game have been taken out of context. Here is what the developer actually said about the release of Grand Theft Auto VI.

Rockstar’s GTA 6 Development Comments explained

Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier recently published an extensive report about the making of GTA 6. However, a rumor that Grand Theft Auto VI was not completed yet only weeks before launch spread online, after some players took several quotes from the Bloomberg piece out of context.

In the report, Rockstar’s Phil Hooker explained that the studio has continued making changes to the game even months before launch: “The game’s never completely settled. We never have an exact blueprint. Even within the last few months, we’ve changed things.”

The quote doesn’t say that GTA 6 as a whole is unfinished weeks before release. It also doesn’t suggest that Rockstar plans to ship Grand Theft Auto VI with missing features or significant compromises.

The quote was largely talking about Grand Theft Auto VI being so ambitious on a technical level, that they continue to make refinements due to just how complex the game is. It was also explaining why the game took so long to get made.

Rockstar’s GTA 6 Comments Need More Context

One detail being overlooked is that Schreier visited Rockstar North in September. That places the conversation months before the game’s late November launch, rather than in the final days before release.

The wording matters here, too. Hooker said the team had changed things “within the last few months.” That doesn’t establish how significant those changes were or suggest that major features still needed to be completed. It also doesn’t give us context what build they were on, or when exactly those changes were made.

The other aspect I think that should be considered, is the context with which the quote was given. In their conversation with Jason Schreier, Rockstar were talking about just how complex GTA 6 is on a technical level. To demonstrated this, here is an excerpt from Schreier and Rockstar describing how a night club works in GTA 6:

“Designing a club for a typical video game might mean generating a few nonplayable characters in different-colored shirts, says top artist Aaron Garbut. In GTA VI, though, it means animating and scripting each individual patron, creating drinks, adding music, crafting lighting, matching the music to that lighting and composing all the other “layers and layers and layers of detail” that make a virtual club feel as authentic as possible.”

That example helps explain the level of detail Rockstar is working towards with GTA 6 and gives a little more context about the changes they continue to make given how complex the game’s systems are. All this to say, panic around Grand Theft Auto VI being “incomplete” seem to largely be unwarranted and started from a misunderstanding of Jason Schreier’s excellent report on the development of the game.

The post No, Rockstar Didn’t Say GTA 6 Is Unfinished Weeks Before Launch appeared first on VICE.

With the hype behind Grand Theft Auto 6 reaching cataclysmic levels, it was only a matter of time before our other American cultural institutions started taking notice. Let no one say that Saturday Night Live hasn't cast off its reputation for being slightly behind the times: they've finally done a GTA 6 sketch. — Read the rest

The post SNL does GTA 6 appeared first on Boing Boing.