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GTA 6 will feature the series’ first female protagonist and center around a pair of characters styled after the American criminal duo Bonnie and Clyde.
The first character details of GTA 6 were revealed in a recent Bloomberg (opens in new tab) report. It’s the first specifics we’ve had since Rockstar confirmed the sequel is “well underway” earlier this year. The report claims GTA 6 will feature a Latina woman as one of its protagonists. Who the second leading character is and what the nature of their relationship will be isn’t clear.
Bonnie and Clyde were a romantic couple who set out on a series of bank robberies during America’s Great Depression. Their life as small-town criminals who went on to perform larger heists, only to be gunned down by the police after a public manhunt, has been romanticized in several books and films after their death.
The notorious criminal tale isn’t worlds away from the stories of previous GTA games. Rockstar’s beloved crime ’em ups often center around characters who are down on their luck and turn to crime.
Punch-up
Bloomberg suggests GTA 6’s characters have been created with more political sensitivity in mind than previous entries in the series. While Rockstar often sells its games as satirical takes on American culture, deriding people from across the political spectrum and those of all demographics, the developer has taken steps to more carefully direct its jokes this time around.
Developers on the game are reportedly being cautious not to punch down and avoid making marginalized groups the punchlines of their jokes. That sentiment extended to the release of GTA 5 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S earlier this year, too, when several transphobic jokes were removed from the game.
A Kotaku (opens in new tab) report from several years ago criticized Rockstar’s workplace culture for its long periods of mandated crunch, bullying, and frat-boy antics. Speaking to Bloomberg now, however, some employees suggest the developer has taken steps to overturn that image in an effort to become a kinder employer. With the introduction of a female Latina protagonist in GTA 6, it looks like some of those progressive changes have extended past Rockstar’s workplace and into its next release.