As you can tell from the multitude of billboards and TV commercials, Grand Theft Auto V, the latest installment in the popular crime series, was released recently. As you may have heard, in it’s first day of release the game racked up $800 million in sales, more than most films make in their entire domestic run. Those numbers added up to $1 billion two days later, and shows no signs of stopping into the holiday season. While impressive, these numbers aren’t too impressive to gamers like me who are used to seeing mega-franchises like GTA and Call of Duty launch to excessive critical and commercial acclaim. What is interesting to me though, is that through all of the launch hype, midnight releases, and mainstream media coverage, very little time has been spent pinning various crimes on the content of the game. There have been isolated incidents of course, and there always will be, but it’s a telling sign for the better that a majority of articles produced by outlets like NBC News, CNN, and Time are spending more time discussing GTA V‘s financial success and fan enthusiasm than blaming a piece of digital entertainment for societies ills. Perhaps I have a severe case of naiveté, but we may be reaching the point where a Rockstar Games developed videogame can be treated with the same respect a Scorsese film would receive.
There is of course a fair amount of violence in GTA V, as with most videogames. However violence is not a form of expression exclusive to video games. Two of the grossing films of this year, Iron Man 3 and Fast and Furious 6 had their fair share of violence displayed onscreen, with sharing a film rating lower than the ESRB mandated age barrier for GTA V. It goes without saying that violence in entertainment should be displayed within the emotional context of the story. GTA V‘s predecessor, appropriately titled Grand Theft Auto IV, is just as if not more about the main character, an Eastern European immigrant’s, disillusionment with the American dream as it is about car jackings and crime sprees. However when your entire franchise is named after a major felony maybe you shouldn’t be too surprised when you become the poster boy for controversy. GTA isn’t the only adult-aimed game series to tackle tough subjects, though. Bioshock Infinite released this spring and was critically and commercially lauded. It also features its share of action, but also covers topics like the ugly side of American exceptionalism and religious identity, both concepts a major Hollywood film of the same stature wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.
While I sadly still haven’t found the time to sit down and play GTA V, it’s good to see that the majority of the debates that are being waged about it are more involved with the content of it’s story and less with whether or not it is to blame for a recent tragedy. It’s time we see videogames tackle heavy subjects often believed to only be reserved for books and film, and that time may finally be upon us.