Last month, we revealed the price of the new-gen versions of Grand Theft Auto V (GTA), outputs on playstation5 and Xbox Series on March 15 in digital version, and the dissatisfaction of Xbox players. Fans have since had the opportunity to walk the streets of Los Santosand thus discovered some changes compared to the previous version.
discretionary deletion
Nearly ten years after its original release, Rockstar has quietly removed content from GTA V and of GTA Online, which critics have described as harmful stereotypes about transgender characters. This includes a Captain Spacetoy doll and “drag queens” present around a nightclub.
The Captain Spacetoy doll modification was reported earlier this month by Reddit user JayProsperowho shared an image comparing the PS4 version with the new remastered version on PS5. We then see that the Captain Spacetoy doll who wore a bright pink sweater and had “interchangeable genitals” has clearly disappeared.
Kristy Cloud, a site administrator GTANetalso remarked on Twitter that the “trans cartoons” that normally appeared around the nightclub called the Cockatoos have also been removed. If the characters still seem accessible with Director Mode, their dialogue options have been disabled.
In new-gen GTAV/GTAO, Rockstar appear to have disabled the trans caricatures or “drag queens” from spawning outside Cockatoos. This could be following a plea from OutMakingGames last year. I hope this provides comfort to anyone who felt these NPCs depicted harmful stereotypes ud83cudff3ufe0fu26a7ufe0f
April 8, 2022
In new-gen versions of GTA V/GTAO, Rockstar appears to have disabled caricatures of transgender people or “drag queens” to prevent them from appearing outside of Cockatoos. This could follow a call made by OutMakingGames last year. Hope this brings comfort to anyone who thought these NPCs represented harmful stereotypes.
Rockstar hasn’t commented on the reasons for these changes, or even acknowledged that they were made.. However, they do come after Out Making Games, an advocacy group for LGBTQ+ people working in the video game industry, sent an open letter to Rockstar asking them to “remove transphobic elements” in the remastered version of GTA V. The band thanked Rockstar for the update in a recent post, acknowledging that while the changes may seem minor, they’re still significant. They then said:
Grand Theft Auto V is a hugely popular game with millions of players around the world and this change can have a huge impact on how those players view trans people.
Thank you to everyone at Rockstar who has made this issue a priority. We are game developers ourselves and understand that even small changes like this take time and coordinated effort.
And this isn’t the first time Rockstar has chosen to take down controversial content.. The Confederate flags have been removed from some locations in GTA V in 2015, where it was replaced by the American flag.
The remastered edition of Grand Theft Auto V was released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S last month, but it is not clear if the content change has also been made to the PC editions. However, what fans are really waiting for is information regarding the long-awaited next installment in the series of GTA : Grand Theft Auto VI.
