How Grand Theft Auto Broke Boundaries & Redefined The Culture
Yesterday, social media was in a frenzy because it was announced that December 3rd would be the 30th anniversary of the PlayStation.
To celebrate, the good folks over at Sony are releasing a special edition PS5 that features the same gray pantone that the iconic PlayStation One sported back in 1994.
I’m sure there isn’t a person reading this newsletter who isn’t familiar with the PlayStation. Moreover, that announcement came at a great time as one game has been on my mind all week:
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
San Andreas is one of the most GOAT’d video games in pop culture history, and part of the only video game franchise that my parents would never in a million years allow me to own growing up.
Putting that aside for a sec, let’s talk some facts:
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the highest-selling PlayStation 2 game of All time.
Grand Theft Auto V is widely considered one of the best videogames ever made.
Grand Theft Auto VI (due for a 2025 release) will likely be the highest-selling game of all time. You can quote me on that.
And guess which game currently holds the title for the fastest selling video game of all time?
That’s right. Grand Theft Auto V.
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.
GTA V is also 2nd highest-selling video game IN HISTORY. It’s only second to Minecraft.
While it’s definitely not the most positive influence in many respects, The GTA franchise has impacted every part of culture from creative marketing to Hip-hop.
The gameplay has proven to breakthrough on multiple levels, and lowkey an existential one too when you think about the level of freedom the game provides.
Could we be living in a simulation? The surrealness of GTA makes you wonder.
Anyway, y’all know the vibes.
Let’s talk about Grand Theft Auto & how it changed the culture forever.
I. BRAND PARTNERSHIPS & MUSIC LICENSING
Rockstar purposely doesn’t do a lot of brand collaborations in Grand Theft Auto, however when they do, you can tell that it’s done with intention. The brand (in this case a person) doesn’t compromise the integrity of the story but it does add to it virtually and IRL.
Perhaps one of the best examples of brand partnerships on GTA is what they did with Dr. Dre.
This partnership saw Rockstar creating an exclusive offering with Dre entitled “The Contract.”
The title refers to an online-exclusive story featuring Dr. Dre where fans go on what Rockstar refers to as “a series of wild adventures” that include helping him find his phone, and naturally other GTA activities (likely to include robberies, and explosions).
“The Contract” also included an EP, the cover of which you see above.
Why is this iconic?
Because we know that Dr. Dre usually won’t release new music without a purpose. For him to effectively co-sign GTA means that not only is he familiar with the franchise, but he’s also a fan.
Because of that fandom, we got 5 new Dr. Dre songs.
Your favorite brand could never.
II. NOSTALGIA MARKETING
If you’re wondering why GTA VI is taking so long, it’s because Grand Theft Auto’s attention to detail was second to none.
This attention to detail also includes the radio stations that players listen to as they drive around on missions.
GTA has over 10 stations that players can flip through and Redditors/bloggers even rank them.
That said, one station stands over the rest in my humble opinion, and that’s
Radio Los Santos.
RLS has been a space for nostalgia and brand partnerships. In a way, it was a breakthrough in what gaming soundtracks could be. It also brought attention to legacy musical acts in a way that wasn’t diminishing or ageist.
Let me break it down a bit more:
i. The Nostalgia
Radio Los Santos kept a continuous rotation of 90s West Coast Hip-hop (in theme with where the game was taking place), and it has become a mainstay in future iterations of Grand Theft Auto.
Fans have even gone as far as to list out each song the station plays in order, and various streams exist on YouTube dedicated to radio Los Santos.
But the nostalgia play wasn’t limited to Hiphop.
If anyone remembers the first trailer promoting GTA San Andreas that aired on TV, it featured “Welcome To The Jungle” by Guns n Roses.
Between that and the other old-school jams available on the game, a new generation was introduced to music they were likely not even born to witness.
ii. The Sync Licensing
Over time, the identity of Radio Los Santos changed, and I’d venture to say they saw it as another source of revenue, and partnership space through sync licensing.
Realizing its popularity, Rockstar brought Radio Los Santos back for Grand Theft Auto V with entirely new songs. There wasn’t a West Coast theme this time, but it featured popular songs from artists like Kendrick Lamar, Future, Big Sean, and more.
Rockstar also created an official playlist featuring all of the music from Radio Los Santos which is available for stream on Spotify (link below).
III. FAN ENGAGEMENT
Over the years Rockstar Games has found ways to get people excited about the next iteration of GTA coming into the world, and it’s a recipe they perfected on GTA V.
Not only did Rockstar leverage the usual channels like gaming conferences and PR appearances, they also allowed fans tangible opportunities to be in the game.
i. Get Your Likeness into GTA V
In GTA V one of the main characters can engage in a series of side quest missions on behalf of a cult he’s recruited into named Epsilon.
Using this nugget, and knowing that only die-hard fans would opt to complete side quest missions, Rockstar had a simple request:
Join Epsilon for a chance to be in GTA V1
They also released real versions of the popular social media knockoff apps that the game incorporates like Lifeinvader — a tongue-in-cheek reference to the invasiveness of social media apps.
As part of the release for GTA V, Rockstar also encouraged fans to go to the app store to download the iFruit app where they could customize license plates for their cars before the game's release.
ii. Complete Missions w/ Friends Online
There’s also the online component which has kept fans engaged with GTA V over the past few years as they await GTA VI.
The amount of care rockstar has put into developing the online portion of their games has allowed gamers to cultivate online communities in a way that I’d venture to say is only available on games like Call of Duty.
Only time will tell what they do in GTA VI, but it’s safe to say with the advancements in tech that have occurred since 2013 and the release of GTA V, the fan experience will be even better.
IV. GRAPHIC DESIGN & TYPOGRAPHY
You know that a game has infiltrated culture when it’s not only meme’d, but it’s actual vis ID makes it way into the world in a tangible way.
Graphically many rappers have taken cues from the famous Grand Theft Auto cartoon-like illustration that has become synonymous with the franchise.
Peep Below — this is how every GTA cover looks for the most part.
Artists like Curren$y incorporated this style into the artwork for their earlier projects. And there are so many lyrics that incorporate different GTA characters that it’d be hard to list them all here.
Adding to the visual component, Timbaland uses the iconic “Mission Passed” copy & sound that GTA is known for on his TikTok live series where he reviews music from up and coming artists.
For those who don’t know what “mission passed” is referring to, check out this video below - It’ll sink in immediately.
The influence doesn’t stop there either.
You might’ve seen popular streamers or content creators also use the “wasted” meme which is a direct reflection of what happens to your character should they be killed within the game.
See below for context.
V. IN SHORT… IT WAS A GAMING BREAKTHROUGH
Lastly, one of the greatest achievements of Grand Theft Auto was its open-world capabilities. If you’ve ever ask a GTA fan what the biggest draw of the game is they’ll likely say it in one word:
FREEDOM.
You wanna be vigilante? Sure, go head.
Steal cars instead of playing out the story? Why not.
Cut grass and drive around all day? Yea, do it.
The game is almost limitless in terms of possibility and while we had The Sims, Rockstar's commitment to realism also stood out.
In 1998 when Grand Theft Auto III hit the scene, it represented a huge step forward for the franchise, moving it from the 2D overhead view to 3D with a world map.
Fast forward 10+ years later, and you now have a game that’s so realistic that once VR becomes mainstream it’ll be hard to distinguish it from reality.
The cities in GTA are incredibly detailed complete with traffic and weather systems, day-night cycles, and NPCs (non-playable characters) who you can share positive or negative interactions with.
This attention to detail gave players a heightened sense of immersion, making the world feel alive and dynamic.
EPILOGUE
As of today the rumor mill is stating that Grand Theft Auto VI is still due out in 2025, BUT there are some rumblings that if production doesn’t get back up to speed it’ll be pushed out another year.
Either way, I’m definitely gonna be ready to buy it whenever it drops. In the meantime, I think I’ll see what the hype is about around GTA V online. It’s been around for years and I haven’t had a chance to play it. Who knows, I might be able to make career of it on Twitch.
Ya never know…
One.