Highlights

  • Grand Theft Auto 6's official trailer teases a realistic reimagination of Vice City, highlighting a return to cultural satire in the franchise.
  • Rockstar's approach to satire in GTA 6 may involve fictional influencers and potential collaborations with real-world celebrities for added depth.
  • Cyberpunk 2077 has already displayed the fun and creative potential in celebrity cameos, so Rockstar should consider this for GTA 6.

The world of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 seems more real than ever thanks to the game's official reveal trailer in December 2023, with fans getting their first tentative glimpses at a reimagined portrayal of the iconic Vice City. Despite this trailer only being brief, it managed to convey the tone that the project will weave throughout its narrative and core setting, and it seems that the franchise's penchant for cultural satire is once again at the forefront of this.

Online influencer culture has exploded in popularity since 2013, and this is one element of society that is ripe for satirization in Grand Theft Auto 6. While it is likely that Rockstar will conjure up fictional influencers in GTA 6's story in an attempt to do this, it also offers an excellent opportunity to collaborate with real-world celebrities who may be willing to play caricatures of themselves in the anticipated project. 2020's Cyberpunk 2077 had a lot of fun with using real life YouTubers, musicians, and more to flesh out its game world, and GTA 6 should absolutely continue this trend.

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Grand Theft Auto 6 Should Beef Up its World with Celebrity Cameos

It is already clear that social media is going to have a much larger presence in Grand Theft Auto 6 when compared to 2013's GTA 5, with the reveal trailer for the upcoming game showing off livestreams that may show in-game events happening in real time for the player. Streamer and influencer culture has expanded significantly over the past decade, for example, and satire based around influencer culture would be a perfect match for Grand Theft Auto 6.

Rockstar titles pride themselves on side-content with unique and memorable characters, and influencer-type characters will surely be at the center of a lot of optional interactions that the player can come across in GTA 6. A similar breadth of content was present in 2020's Cyberpunk 2077, with the dystopian world of Night City being portrayed through its NPCs, and the title smartly used real-world figures in some of these interactions.

Throughout Cyberpunk 2077, players can come across characters that take the likeness, voice, and sometimes even names of celebrities, with the likes of Hideo Kojima, Grimes, Jesse Cox, and Alanah Pearce appearing in this capacity. Many of these figures have ties to the gaming industry or the world of Cyberpunk, and their in-game appearances offered an excellent and comedic way to bridge the gap between fiction and reality.

Grand Theft Auto 6 Could Revive the Franchise's Celebrity Past

Celebrities have appeared as themselves in Grand Theft Auto in the past, with Ricky Gervais famously having a comedy show segment in GTA 4, though this practice was significantly dialed back for GTA 5. Now that Cyberpunk 2077 has distanced itself from its problematic launch, the level of engagement that its open world offers is considered a serious achievement, and so, Rockstar could learn from its celebrity collaborations.

From what fans have already seen of Grand Theft Auto 6, the increased presence of in-game social media makes celebrity and influencer appearances all the more plausible. Streamers like Adin Ross have already claimed to be featured in GTA 6's game world, and while this remains unsubstantiated, it shows that there is clear room for the upcoming game to directly link itself to real life figures. The near unrivaled success of Grand Theft Auto 5 has significantly raised the profile of the franchise over the past decade, and it seems likely that a huge range of celebrities would rush to the opportunity of being immortalized in the upcoming game.