On Thursday, after years of waiting, rumors, and leaks, Rockstar Games finally showed everyone our first look at gameplay of Grand Theft Auto 6, its upcoming open-world sequel that is set to be one of the biggest games in history. And during that extended look, Rockstar included a commercial for an Arby’s parody. Funny, sure. But if you’ve played a lot of Red Dead Redemption II, well, you probably got some deja vu. That’s because Rockstar used RDR 2 to help make that ad.
While watching yesterday’s nearly 30-minute gameplay reveal of GTA 6, I spotted something odd during a Chacey’s commercial for a comically large sandwich made out of various animals, including deer, warthogs, and rabbits. Here’s the ad in case you haven’t seen it or want your memory refreshed:
“Wait a minute… I recognize those deer! I know those warthog models!” I thought to myself while watching that ad. I wondered if Rockstar Games had used Red Dead Redemption 2 to create the short commercial. And it didn’t take long for fans to answer my question: Yup, Rockstar used RDR 2 in that commercial. In fact, someone on Reddit actually found the specific location in Rockstar’s open-world cowboy simulator where the studio recorded the ad.
This isn’t the first time Rockstar has used one of its old games to create TV shows, movies, and ads in its other games. In fact, it’s been doing this since GTA IV. In that game, released in 2008, you can watch TV shows, and if you look carefully, you’ll spot GTA San Andreas in some ads and programs, including shots of Las Venturas during a poker tournament. You can also catch a glimpse of Bullworth Academy from Bully in GTA IV as well.
In Grand Theft Auto 5, you can watch a movie in theaters that is intended to spoof arthouse flicks. And in the black-and-white film, you can spot shots recorded in Red Dead Redemption as well as a clip featuring the Statue of Happiness’ giant heart, an Easter egg hidden in GTA IV.
Needless to say, I’m not surprised Rockstar has once again relied on this method to help create TV shows and ads in GTA 6. It makes a lot of sense. Instead of having to create a whole wilderness and model and animate tons of animals for one short ad, Rockstar just films it in a modified version of RDR 2. It also lets them create TV content and movies in finished games while the newer game is still being developed. And it also lets Rockstar drop little Easter eggs and connections to its other games within its newer games for super fans and sickos, like me, to spot and go, “Oh hey!”
I suspect that when GTA 6 arrives in November on PS5 and Xbox, there will be other Rockstar-developed games making cameo appearances on the TV, like GTA V’s Los Santos or maybe even some zombie action from Red Dead’s Undead Nightmare DLC. I can’t wait to watch TV in GTA 6, which is a weird thing to admit, but here we are.