Grand Theft Auto and the female gaze: is this a new era for Rockstar Games?

Rockstar Games is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month and it surely stands as the biggest entertainment studio on the planet. Marvel? Disney? Netflix? Pipsqueaks, when put against Rockstar in terms of revenue and audience.

But, to steal a moralistic quote from Marvel “with great power comes great responsibility”, and Rockstar, with its record label cool, industry bad boys reputation, and veil of secrecy, has seemingly, like many other gaming studios, remained free from social responsibility: other than to deliver to its audience kick-ass games. Does that matter?

Many, many people would say no. That it is wildly successful at delivering kick-ass games is an understatement. The excitement surrounding the trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI has been off the scale, with a record 38m views in 24 hours on YouTube. The game won’t even be available to buy until 2025, but already fever pitch has been reached and the trailer picked down to the bone for clues.

It’s worth dwelling on some figures around the previous instalment of the franchise to show just why there is this level of hysteria: since GTA V launched in 2013, 165 million copies have been sold, and it is the most profitable entertainment title of all time, bringing in $6 billion and counting. The highest grossing film of all time? Avatar, which made a paltry $2.8 billion.  

And truly, the trailer looks fantastic, promising a gangster game that is thrillingly real and excitingly trashy, set in the Miami-like Vice City. It delivered on looking stunningly new while also hitting the nostalgia that surrounds such