A viral topic of discussion is currently sweeping TikTok following Grand Theft Auto 6’s extended reveal trailer last week: As the game lets you hold hands with a digital woman, is it immoral for your partner to play GTA 6?
IGN covered this yesterday in an article featuring clips of supposedly concerned TikTok users. “In absolutely no human way is my fiancé playing GTA 6,” stated one user on TikTok. “You literally have to maintain a relationship with a girl [in] the video game and text her, and she’ll get mad if you don’t text her back[…]Don’t let your boyfriend or fiancé or husband play GTA 6.”
Now, many fairly responded to the coverage with skepticism. Are hundreds of angry spouses genuinely furious at the thought of their partners interacting with a bunch of pixels, or is this just a classic case of TikTok engagement bait nonsense?
Well, while there are multiple videos of people saying that engaging in GTA 6’s dating mechanics is tantamount to “cheating,” there’s an elephant in the room we should definitely address: These videos are getting lots of views, upwards of 5 million apiece, yet the overwhelming majority of the comments on said videos are from people disagreeing.
Given the initial popularity of these GTA 6 “cheating” videos, I’d say the second wave is far more likely to be a case of opportunists hopping on a viral trend. So, no, I don’t think that a sizable percentage of people genuinely believe that going to a strip club with a virtual baddie is grounds for divorce.
However, much like its predecessor, I do think that Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to be one of the most popular and widely discussed video games of all time…which will ultimately result in it attracting a lot of genuinely batshit takes from people who otherwise wouldn’t care about video games in any way.
With all that being said, I do think it opens up the doors to a more interesting discussion. Obviously, most normal people don’t believe that going on a date with Lucia (or Jason, for that matter) is akin to infidelity, but where is the line here?
For instance, should you be concerned if your partner prefers their Love and Deepspace boyfriend to you? Is it technically polyamory if your other half has an AI chatbot spouse? Is finding out your partner texts their Persona 5 waifu back before they text you a sign your marriage may be on the rocks? Should you be concerned if the love of your life has installed the Withers’ Big Naturals mod in Baldur’s Gate 3?