I don’t like the GTA games. There, I said it. And it’s the truth. And with GTA VI finally on the cusp of being released, this simple statement is a lightning rod for angry fanboys who can’t understand why their personal favourite game isn’t mine as well.

You see, there is a myth that every gamer loves the GTA games. You only have to look at how successful GTA V has been in the 13(!) years since it’s official release. 230m copies sold! $10bn in revenue! Gamers must all adore it!

Well, that isn’t true. Sure it’s sold a lot of copies. But look deeper. Thats spread across 3 platform generations (the PS3/Xbox 360 era to the PS5/Xbox Series era). So a lot of those copies will be duplicate or even triplicate purchases. $10bn in revenue? Only because the online component hooks it’s users in to spending real world cash for in-game currency which is required to truly “experience” the game to it’s fullest.

But for me, it does nothing as a game. Sure, I can appreciate the mechanics that form the gameplay loop. I can be impressed with the games engine and the worlds it has been used to create (although none of them have topped Vice City for being so evocative of a real world time & place in my opinion). But the fact that the core game hasn’t really changed that much (again, in my opinion) since GTA 3way back in 2001 leaves me cold. Yes, I know it’s been refined and expanded upon, but the core loop remains relatively untouched.

And to some, this makes me either a liar (“You’re just saying this to be controversial!”) or plain old “wrong”. Except it doesn’t. Not really. You see, the world would be utterly boring if everyone liked the same stuff all the time. I love playing Frost Punk for example. I think it’s a brilliant game. But I’m aware that others don’t enjoy it at all. And I don’t think they are “wrong”. I accept that it just isn’t their bag, baby.

Hell, the same applies for me to COD, FIFA/EAFC, Gears of War… These seemingly universally loved and acclaimed games just do nothing for me at all. And I’m fine with that. I just wish other folk could grasp that, too.