The term “Woke” has become the most talked about thing in recent times. Aside from the general world, it has even started to appear in video games. We have been seeing a lot of video games being called out as “Woke” and because of this, they are also getting cancelled by a few group of gamers. In hindsight, it is easy to understand that a large audience does not like woke games. Gamers have even started to question whether, the most hyped game of all time, GTA 6 would also be a woke game or not. Well, we’re here to discuss that, let’s talk if GTA 6 will be woke or not!
What does “Woke” mean?
Before we start talking about whether GTA 6 would be woke or not, it is very important to understand the concept of “going woke” or “woke” in general, since the term is very broad and a lot of people might not even be aware of it, let’s get a quick look at the meaning of these terms.
For starters, the term “woke” is a slang that refers to being aware of important social and political issues, especially those related to racial and social justice. By “going woke”, it is considered that the particular medium is trying to address social and political issues. In this instance, the argument so far has been that Rockstar Games might try to go woke with their game to address social and political issues.
Whether going “woke” is a good or a bad thing, that is a very different topic altogether and it is a subjective matter, that is the reason we would be keeping that discussion aside, and rather we are going to focus on talking about whether the upcoming game by Rockstar is going woke or not.
“Wokeness” in Video Games
Now one might ask how such a wide term like “woke” is even related to video games in the first place? Well the answer to that question is not that straight forward, it is important to understand that video games aside from being a source of entertainment are also a medium of storytelling, so if there is a game that makes you aware of such issues, they are also impacting the society in a way.
Industry trends have revealed that a lot of studios are trying to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their workplaces and games. A few of the recent games released, like Spider-Man 2, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, Life is Strange: Double Exposure and a few other games are called out to be “woke”, have one thing in common, which is the involvement of a certain studio, Sweet Baby Inc.
The company has been under a lot of fire because of this, as they are a studio that helps video game developers improve DEI in their games. The studio was founded by former Ubisoft developers, Kim Belair and David Bédard. They consult with the developers on video game narratives and help them promote DEI in their games as well as their studios. Aside from Sweet Baby Inc, there are also other newer studios who have started to do the same and have been involved with a few game releases, however as of now, the biggest name in the industry has been Sweet Baby Inc.
In general, gamers have a very mixed opinion on this situation, while some enjoy the representation of such matters through the medium of video games, others have a say that such things should stay away from games because it feels like the developers are forcing unrelated agendas into the gameplay, making the game not fun for the players.
Female Protagonist = Woke?
Ever since it was announced that GTA 6 is going to have a female protagonist “Lucia” along with a male protagonist, “Jason”, fans of the series have had a mixed opinion as this is the first time there will be a female protagonist in the series. Some fans think that the game having a female protagonist is an attempt to cater to a specific agenda, rather than focusing on gameplay.
It is important to understand that criticizing the game solely because it includes a female protagonist isn’t valid, as Rockstar is known for presenting great stories. The series has included a set of female characters in the past and even in the GTA 5 online mode, players have the option to select a female as their playable character.
While this may be the first time Rockstar Games is going to feature a female protagonist, the studio has been open to the idea of a female protagonist in the past. Just before the release of GTA 5, Dan Houser was asked about the inclusion of a female protagonist in an interview and he said, “if the story called for it, then absolutely.” So it is pretty much clear that Rockstar is not against the idea of including a playable female character in the series.
LGBTQ Representations in Rockstar Games
Another argument that has been popping up in regards to the game going woke, has been that Rockstar might push LGBTQ representations in the upcoming game. A lot of gamers are against this idea as they have a mixed opinion on this situation, however Rockstar has been very open about LGBTQ representations even in the past. A few examples include:
GTA: San Andreas, in which there is a place called, “Queens” that is a district of San Fierro. Queens is home to most of San Fierro’s LGBT community, and because of this, many gay and lesbian couples can be seen holding hands in the streets. Along with this, the lamp posts in the area have gay pride flags on them, and they also emit a pink glow at night.
Rockstar’s hit title from 2006, “Bully” was the second game after GTA: San Andreas, to feature LGBTQ representations. The game takes place in a boarding school, Bullworth Academy. In this school, there are several bi-sexual characters with whom the player can interact with. Not only this, but there is an achievement in the game called “Over The Rainbow” in which the protagonist has to kiss 20 guys from his school in order to unlock the achievement.
GTA 4 was the game where there were some major LGBTQ representations. There was an entire DLC, called “Ballad of Gay Tony” which featured “Gay Tony” as a central character who is openly gay and the owner of a nightclub. While the game features “Luis Fernando Lopez” as the protagonist, who is the bodyguard of Gay Tony, we do get to see some major LGBTQ representation. Aside from this DLC, even in the main game, Niko has a friend Bernie Crane who is openly gay and Niko is very supportive towards his friend.
DEI Certifications at Rockstar Games
Fans have been worried after a few reports that came out recently suggesting that there has been an adoption of DEI training among staff at Rockstar Games, over 60 employees have completed certifications in “Unconscious Bias” and “Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging”. While the DEI certificate may suggest something, we cannot say for sure until further reports are released.
It is important to understand that, Rockstar Games have a lot of studios around the world, and they have a lot of developers working on the game, just because there have been reports that a few employees have completed courses, does not mean that the game is going to be woke, it might just be because Rockstar is doing this for their workplaces, and it might not be related to the game.
Departure of Key People at Rockstar
Rockstar Games have had a long history of producing some of the best games in the video game industry. Games like GTA 3, San Andreas and other games in the series are regarded as the best video games of all time. Given such a golden history of the studio, it was a shocker to find out that there has been a departure of a few important figures like Dan Houser, Michael Unsworth and Lazlow Jones, as they have been involved with older Rockstar’s hits.
Dan Houser is a video game writer and producer, who was also one of the co-founders of Rockstar Games. He served as the head writer and vice president of creativity until his resignation in 2020. As of now, he has opened up a new studio called “Absurd Ventures” and the studio is making an open world action-adventure game. Along with him, Michael Unsworth and Lazlow Jones were also involved with Rockstar Games in the past, and even they left the studio, but surprisingly, both of them joined Dan in his journey at Absurd Ventures, within one year.
Ever since these important people left, gamers have been worried that GTA 6 might not be like the older GTA games, but given the time they left the company, it was after the release of Red Dead Redemption 2, which would mean that they would have been involved in the production of GTA 6, as it has been in production since 2014, so the argument that GTA 6 might not be like the older games is ruled out, we could say that the upcoming game, might still have the charm of the older games. We like to think that Rockstar would still present the game with the satirical edge they’re known for in the series.
Also Read: Take-Two Boss hints GTA 6 release date on PC
Will GTA 6 Be Woke?
Given that, GTA 6 is currently the most hyped video game right now, the question has to asked, about whether it would take a woke approach or not? Even before the release of the game, it has been a hot topic in the gaming community, so fans have been wondering whether the game would as good as the other game in the series, or Rockstar would pull off something completely different and follow the industry trend of going woke.
We like to think that while the game might not be as bold as the others in the series, given that this is Rockstar Games we are talking about, the game would still take shots at today’s issues and present them in a funny way. Either way, it would be interesting to see what Rockstar does with their upcoming game.
With that said, based on everything we’ve covered so far, that was our opinion on why GTA 6 won’t be woke, what do you think, will Rockstar Games consider taking a woke approach for this game? Let us know by dropping a comment down below!
