The most anticipated entertainment product of this decade-and perhaps of the beginning of this century-is not a movie; it is not even a TV series or a book. Numbers in hand, what we are talking about is a video game.
In December last year, the trailer for the new chapter of the most talked about and played video game saga ever, Grand Theft Auto (GTA), was released.
The video game will be called GTA VI and follows the release of GTA V, which was released more than a decade ago now, in 2013, and is considered one of the most successful video games in video game history in terms of sales and active players in the multiplayer segment: it still reaches peaks of two million players a day.
Grand Theft Auto is produced by Rockstar Games, a New York-based U.S. development company founded in 1998 and in turn created by Take Two Interactive, which is responsible for publishing Rockstar’s products.
GTA VI is the eighth chapter in the saga, and not the sixth, as the name would imply: this is because the saga also includes spin-offs or chapters that do not slavishly follow the chronological order of the series (for example, GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas were released between GTA III and GTA IV, which cannot be considered as spin-offs and are certainly among the most celebrated chapters in the entire saga).
The trailer for the new chapter-which was due to be released by 3 p.m. Italian time on Dec. 5 but suffered a Twitter leak in the night, forcing Rockstar Games to anticipate its release-was the trailer with the most views achieved on Youtube, breaking hourly records and reaching 200 million views.
Un frame del trailer di GTA VI con quelli che dovrebbero essere i due protagonisti del nuovo capitolo, che dovrebbe ricalcare la trama di Bonnie e Clyde
The concept of the Grand Theft Auto saga revolves around the criminal life of the protagonist (or protagonists, in GTA V there are three and interchangeable with each other almost always throughout the story), who are always different.
Although often criticized for its violence and incitement to crime, Grand Theft Auto has also been particularly successful for its ruthless and parodic critique of American society. From comic portrayals of certain politicians and television personalities to exaggerated pulp-style violence à la Quentin Tarantino, GTA is somewhat of an emblem of contemporary America taken to the extreme.
At the same time, Grand Theft Auto tries to create a universe of its own that is very much inspired by America without, however, ever referring to it in terms of actual names. GTA V, for example, is set in Los Angeles, which in the video game is named Los Santos. This was also a way to avoid controversy about the representations of the city related to the actions the player can take.
The anticipation towards GTA VI is easily explained by taking into consideration the chapters and even the old IPs of Rockstar Games (The term IP, in the video game industry, refers to a series of video games by a particular developer: GTA is, therefore, an IP by Rockstar Games, Cyberpunk 2077 an IP by Project Red, and so on). Whenever Rockstar has released a new IP or a chapter in a well-trodden saga over the past twenty years, it has often shaken up the market and marked a point of no return, raising the standard for the entire industry.
This happened with the release of GTA III, which followed GTA II, with Rockstar introducing a fully 3D graphics engine-the previous two chapters, on the other hand, relied on a top-down, 2D view while still maintaining the concept of the series). The same thing happened with GTA IV, which introduced very complex physics by the standard of the time, with cars crumpling very realistically after a crash and a particularly vivid and “real” game world. But also with Red Dead Redemption 2, the second installment of the saga set in the Wild West and released in 2018. Rockstar marked a point of no return in the industry.
Una schermata di GTA II (1999) con vista dall’alto
GTA III (2001) ha introdotto per la prima volta nella storia della saga un motore 3D. In questa schermata, il protagonista Claude con alle spalle la metropolitana rialzata di Liberty City, controparte fittizia di New York
GTA IV (2008) è uscito per Playstation 3 ed ha introdotto una fisica avanzata per le collisioni dei veicoli e dei personaggi, aspetti fondamentali nel videogioco
Uno scoiattolo in Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018), ultimo videogioco rilasciato da Rockstar, ripreso dalla modalità “fotografia” del videogioco. Da notare il dettaglio dell’occhio che riflette l’ambiente circostante
The uniqueness of Rockstar’s video games certainly lies in the complexity of the plot writing and cinematography of its sagas. This is also due to the huge budgets that are invested in the development of their IPs, as well as the time that Rockstar takes between chapters of the series, which are much longer than the standards of other manufacturers: FIFA, the famous soccer saga, which has always been the best-selling in Italy, for example, comes out every year, as does Call of Duty. Between Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2, on the other hand, eight years have passed, while GTA V has been waiting for its sequel for more than eleven.
But we are also talking, precisely, about pharaonic budgets: GTA V cost, in all, $256 million-slightly more than half of what Avatar – The Way of the Water, which was produced with about $400 million and was decreed as the most expensive film ever, cost, for comparison. The box office comparison, however, is quite different: Avatar grossed, in all, $2.3 billion. GTA V grinded out, on the other hand, more than $7 billion in box office, which continues to climb thanks in part to in-game purchases, so-called microtransactions.
It is not surprising, then, to learn that the budget allocated for GTA VI would be around $1 billion (rumors even mention $2 billion), which would make it the most expensive entertainment product ever once released.
Obviously, the mix of expectations generated around GTA 6 has set fans and the curious on fire-we are talking about an industry, the video game industry, that has now reached a user base of more than 3.5 billion people, if you count those who play on smartphones. And this has prompted some people to run for cover.
According to former Rockstar tech director Obbe Vermeij, who worked at the U.S.-based company from 1995 to 2009 playing important roles in the creation of the GTA 3, GTA 4, GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas chapters, he believes the new chapter will not be all that different from its predecessor.
“It looks like they simply took GTA 5 even further,” the former Rockstar employee said in a statement. “The scene that impresses me the most is the one on the beach, where each character seems to be doing something different, with unique animations. I think it’s really impressive.” But, he adds, “I don’t think it will be drastically different from GTA 5. Maybe some people might be a little disappointed on day one.”
And if Obbe Vermeij’s words sound bitter, it will also not please fans to know that, following the announcement by the American actors’ union SAG-AFTRA to begin a strike involving video game voice actors, Rockstar’s major project may experience some delays in release.
The release of Grand Theft Auto VI is set for 2025, although video game companies have accustomed their users to constant delays and postponements, fearing the possibility of releasing products that do not live up to expectations or are poorly polished. It happened with Starfield, a game from Bethesda, producer of, among others, the famous Fallout sagas (yes, the one from the TV series) and The Elder Scroll: 25 years of development for a game that didn’t get above an 8 in average reviews, drawing the ire of fans.
But it also happened to Cyberpunk 2077, which even featured Keanu Reeves in the cast: the game came out with obvious unresolved technical problems in development and many features that did not live up to the expected promises due to previously released trailers. It took more than a year to get the video game back on the right tracks, with CD Project RED’s stock value plummeting to a measurable $1 billion.
Il personaggio interpretato da Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077
The article The most anticipated medium ever is a video game comes from TheNewyorker.
