GTA VI will have a female protagonist as a result of changes in Rockstar Games
Shortly before the market launch of Red Dead Redemption IIMany stories emerged of abusive crunch for the development of the game, as well as accusations of sexism in the company. More than three years have passed since then, and since then there have been reports changes in the mentality of Rockstar Games that will be reflected in GTA VI.
Recently, a report has come out on the Bloomberg portal by Jason Schreier. He says that employees who have long complained about crunch and poor working conditions have seen their conditions improve, and are trying to reduce the pay gap in the company.
Rockstar Games are no longer the thugs of yesteryear
For a while, they were developing a "cops and robbers" game mode for GTA Online, but after the Black Lives Matter protests against police violence in the United States, they thought it wasn't a good idea to release such a mode; and also They removed transphobic jokes in GTA V to PS5. These are some of the examples that Bloomberg's Jason Schreier gives about the changes in Rockstar Games' mentality, and they will continue with that change during the development of GTA VI.
Among other data you have received, you can confirm that Grand Theft Auto VI will include a playable female lead for the first time, will be of Latino descent, and one of the two main characters in a story influenced by bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde. The developers claim to be aware not to make jokes at the expense of marginalized groups.
Years ago they described Rockstar as having a work culture full of alcohol, fights and trips to adult clubs, along with crunch where nights and weekends were worked to avoid delaying content. In 2018 the existence of this thought was made public. And now they are changing, according to interviews with more than 20 people who work there or who recently left.
The development of GTA VI is taking a long time, according to employees of Rockstar. This is due to the pandemic and the restructuring of the design department and overtime control. They are still trying to adapt to making games in this new ecosystem. Employees themselves point out that "America today cannot be satirized, because it is already a satire of itself«. Between the current climate in the United States and the departure of Dan Houser, founder of the studio, we are already warned that GTA VI will be radically different from what we are used to.
Source: Bloomberg
