Transphobic content is excluded from the new version of ‘GTA 5’

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When “Grand Theft Auto 5” was released in November 2013, the world was different.

Donald Trump was a television show host with distant electoral pretensions, the Brazilian team was emerging as a favorite for the World Cup after being champion of the Confederations Cup (which no longer exists) and Elon Musk was more interested in developing a transport by train. ultra-fast capsules than shopping for social media.

Still, almost nine years after it was released, “GTA 5″ remains one of the most played games. A public success story and very rare revenue in the world of video games, which has served as a model for several other titles that bet on the idea of ​​”games as a service”.

One of the secrets to this success is the constant updating of content, adapting the game to the technological news of the moment. This year, with the release of versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, the game reached its third generation of console, but this time, the changes seem to have been a little more profound.

players and “GTA 5” community members noticed in the last few days small changes in the new version of the game, which stopped presenting some content considered transphobic, such as a background image that tried to make a joke with “interchangeable genitals” and the absence of some NPCs (non-controllable characters) that represented people stereotypically trans.

The changes came after the organization Out Making Games, which brings together LGBTQIA+ employees from the UK gaming industry, sent an open letter to Rockstar, the developer of “GTA 5”, asking the company to consider removing transphobic content in the new release. game version.

“Unlike other random NPCs in ‘GTA 5’, the game appears to purposely play with extremely harmful stereotypes of trans and gender-diverse people to encourage players to feel repulsed by them and even enjoy hurting and killing them.” says the organization in the letter, motivated by a text published by the website Kotaku, which showed some examples of transphobic content in the game.

Rockstar has not commented on the changes in the new version of the game. Still, Out Making Games celebrated the removal of the content in a post on its website.

“‘Grand Theft Auto 5’ is a hugely popular game with millions of players around the world, and this change could have a huge impact on how these players view trans people. Thanks to everyone at Rockstar for prioritizing this issue — we, As game developers, we understand that even small changes like these require coordinated time and effort,” the organization said.

Since 2013, the general public’s awareness of issues such as violence against transsexuals and prejudice against the LGBTQIA+ population has been increasing. Only in 2020, for example, was the first mapping of the trans population in São Paulo carried out.

New times demand new attitudes. Rockstar does well to remove content from “GTA 5” considered offensive and irrelevant to the overall quality of the game. If not for humanitarian reasons, at least for financial reasons.

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update

news, launches, business and what else matters

• In a vote last Thursday (28), shareholders of Activision Blizzard approved the sale of the company to Microsoft for US$ 67.8 billion (R$ 333.8 billion). According to the developer, more than 98% of the votes were in favor of the transaction.

• The Embracer Group, a Swedish conglomerate of video game developers, announced the purchase of three western studios from Japan’s Square Enix. For US$ 300 million (R$ 1.5 billion), Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montréal and Square Enix Montréal will become part of the group. Along with them, Embracer acquired the rights to franchises such as “Tomb Raider”, “Deus Ex” and “Thief”, among others.

• “Diablo Immortal”, a free mobile and PC game from the famous RPG franchise, will be released on June 2nd. In the game, players will be able to choose between six character classes to experience the events between “Diablo 2” and “Diablo 3”.

• “Fifa 22” will be among the free games for subscribers to the PlayStation Plus service in May. The survival RPG “Tribes of Midgard” and the roguelike “Curse of the Dead Gods” will also be available for free from May 3.

• Gameloft will release a Disney adventure and exploration game in 2023. According to the announcement video for “Dreamlight Valley”, the free title will be a kind of “Animal Crossing” with a character from the Disney universe. The game will have versions for consoles and mobile phones.

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