LGBTQ+ games professionals request Rockstar to remove transphobic elements in GTA V Expanded and Enhanced

[stormfire]

A recent Kotaku article on transphobic elements in GTA V has prompted 'Out Making Games' to write the letter:

Dear Rockstar Games,

We are Out Making Games, a group of hundreds of LGBTQ+ games professionals working in the UK games industry. You probably know some of us as individuals - in fact, you probably employ some of us.

Your games are awesome. We really love them. Millions of people play them and as a result they have a huge cultural impact. What you put in your games can have real-world consequences and influences the way players see the world and treat people.

We are writing to you regarding the Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced & Expanded edition scheduled for release in 2022. We were prompted by this Kotaku article which recaps specific examples from the original release that are transphobic and connects them to the real-world consequences of transphobia.

Given this is an 'enhanced & expanded' edition, change is a selling point. This is a great opportunity to remove transphobic elements from the game and have a positive impact on the new generation of players who will pick up a copy.

2020 was one of the most violent years for trans people since recording began. In 2020, over 350 trans and gender diverse people were murdered. Many were killed inside their own homes. These records were compiled by Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide.

As Carolyn Petit writes in Kotaku, unlike for other random NPCs in GTAV, the game appears to purposefully play into extremely harmful stereotypes of trans and gender diverse people to encourage players to be repulsed by them and even to relish hurting and killing them.

We reject any argument of 'equal opportunity violence' against all types of characters in GTAV. That argument is missing the point. Given the cultural impact GTAV has around the world, Rockstar has a social responsibility to your players (many of whom may be LGBTQ+), to your staff and to the world at large to not promote violence against trans and gender diverse people.

The 2022 release of Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced & Expanded could be a unique opportunity for Rockstar to correct the problem. We would like to hear back about your plans to address the issue of portrayals of trans and gender diverse characters in GTAV. If you are not sure where to start, please let us know and we can begin a discussion about the changes you can make to in-game portrayals to help save trans lives.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Out Making Games

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An open letter to Rockstar Games — OMG

We write to express our concerns to Rockstar Games about a missed opportunity to remove transphobic content from GTAV

www.outmaking.games

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But there's nothing "equal opportunity" about the position trans people hold in society right now. And unlike other random NPCs, the way Rockstar designed GTAV's trans people actively plays into the hateful stereotypes harbored by many transphobic players. The trans sex workers you can encounter, with their garish makeup and prominent penis bulges, seem calculated to be ridiculous and repulsive to players who bring their pre-existing transphobia to the game with them. It's as if they're designed specifically so that some players could relish hurting and killing them because they are trans.

And they're situated in a world that overflows with transphobic "jokes" that you can't escape. As just one small example, in the game's world you see vehicles belonging to a UPS-style delivery service called Post OP, a company which first appeared in GTA IV. The trucks bear the slogans "No Longer Just Mail" and "your package is safe in our hands." Hilarious.

GTAV's depictions of trans people were outdated and insulting even in 2013. Today, they feel profoundly uncool and out of touch, exactly the sort of thing a developer that prides itself on being culturally hip and relevant should want to avoid. For the 2022 release, the character models of trans sex workers from the 2013 edition can simply be removed. Amidst whatever other changes it's making to the "Enhanced & Expanded" edition, Rockstar can cut them, as well as do away with the clunky transphobic "jokes" that you see on some billboards and vehicles.

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GTAV’s Enhanced 2022 Release Should Leave The 2013 Transphobia Behind

The 'Enhanced & Expanded' edition should do away with this unfortunate element

kotaku.com

 

[Lowrys]

Yep they should absolutely change that stuff. Shouldn't have been there on release, shouldn't be there now.

 

[BoxScar]

Hard to disagree with any of that. From what I remember were there not reports that Rockstar was also getting Grants/tax credits for producing content that is "culturally British"? Which also calls into question why this money is supporting hateful content that create and maintain harmful stereotypes.

 

[Deleted member 5865]

Even in 2013 I'd think this would be a bit much

 

[Maledict]

Hard to disagree with any of that. From what I remember were there not reports that Rockstar was also getting Grants/tax credits for producing content that is "culturally British"? Which also calls into question why this money is supporting hateful content that create and maintain harmful stereotypes.

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Unfortunately I cannot think of anything more culturally British than Transphobia. We're called Terf Island for a reason.

 

[Mugen X]

Shouldn't even be a question whether or not they remove this stuff, why it still remains however is quite baffling to me.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Rockstar has always been really bad with this stuff. Hopefully they listen and change it but I somehow doubt they will.

 

[Mocha Joe]

Shouldn't be there in the first place. Needs to be removed immediately.

 

[Ashlette]

transphobia is shit. fuck weirdos who disagree.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Even from a marketing standpoint they have no reason not to remove those elements,
because you just know the people who would complain about the removal would still buy the game anyway, lol

 

[Gleethor]

Zero reason to not do this

 

[Keiriks]

The Gamers(TM) sure won't like this. But I do agree this shit should be left in the abyss where it belongs.

 

[julia crawford]

It would be really cool if this happened.

But i would not extend decision makers at Rockstar the generous expectation of not being transphobes and not dismissing this as "censure".

 

[ngower]

I haven't played the game that much but is it just NPCs or are there any major characters as well?

 

[bytesized]

Even in 2013 I'd think this would be a bit much

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Fucking hell, never noticed this character when playing

 

[Betty]

So is it just the fact there are stereotypical trans NPC's? That's what they want removed? I platinumed the game twice and never even knew they existed, the smack talk from the player character seems pretty bad.

I thought maybe there was a rampage mission against trans people they wanted cut but they aren't included in the list of groups you go against.

Also feels weird that the letter from Out Making Games says 'we love your games!' like why? GTA is jam packed with sexism, chauvanism, barely any good female characters and glorifies criminal behaviour. There've been actual real world violent crimes that were done as imitations of the games.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

So is it just the fact there are stereotypical trans NPC's? That's what they want removed? I platinumed the game twice and never even knew they existed, the smack talk from the player character seems pretty bad.

I thought maybe there was a rampage mission against trans people they wanted cut but they aren't included in the list of groups you go against.

Also feels weird that the letter from Out Making Games says 'we love your games!' like why? GTA is jam packed with sexism, chauvanism, barely any good female characters and glorifies criminal behaviour. There've been actual real world violent crimes that were done as imitations of the games.

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Bruh...

 

[Keiriks]

Also feels weird that the letter from Out Making Games says 'we love your games!' like why? GTA is jam packed with sexism, chauvanism, barely any good female characters and glorifies criminal behaviour. There've been actual real world violent crimes that were done as imitations of the games.

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Enjoying problematic media isn't problematic in itself.

 

[Deleted member 17184]

Yeah, that is one of the reasons why I never got into the game. No excuse to have it.

 

[TaySan]

I hope Rockstars follows through and removes it. No excuse for this in 2021

 

[Betty]

Enjoying problematic media isn't problematic in itself.

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There's a megaton of problems with GTA and Rockstar games in general though, I wouldn't just be asking for these gross trans representations to be cut. The violence against women is also a huge problem.

That video from RDR2 where a player drags the lone feminist protestor to a crocodile still makes me sick.

 

[Kyuuji]

Glad to see this as someone who's also been vocal in hoping they remove these elements from the upcoming release. There's absolutely zero need for them to be included, they are actively harmful.

 

[CHC]

That's an extremely well written letter

 

[DiipuSurotu]

There's a megaton of problems with GTA and Rockstar games in general though, I wouldn't just be asking for these gross trans representations to be cut. The violence against women is also a huge problem.

That video from RDR2 where a player drags the lone feminist protestor to a crocodile still makes me sick.

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Isn't this whataboutism

Maybe the reason Out Making Games is focusing on LGBTQ+ issues is because they are a group of LGBTQ+ professionals.

 

[purseowner]

The game's rotten to the core. How about we simply don't re-release it at all

 

[Betty]

Isn't this whataboutism

Maybe the reason Out Making Games is focusing on LGBTQ+ issues is because they are a group of LGBTQ+ professionals.

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Which they absolutely should, just feels wrong to compliment Rockstar when they have so many other issues in their games that need addressing.

 

[KrillinLikeAVillan]

That video from RDR2 where a player drags the lone feminist protestor to a crocodile still makes me sick.

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To be fair you can't really blame that on rockstar, that was not part of any mission or anything, you can kill any non story npc in rdr2, blame it on the incel dipshit who made that video.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Millions of people buy the game every year, most of them teens, and this is what they find in it, that's sad.

 

[Kyuuji]

Other examples for people who may have missed them:

Source

 

[Thera]

To be fair you can't really blame that on rockstar, that was not part of any mission or anything, you can kill any non story npc in rdr2, blame it on the incel dipshit who made that video.

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I read that as "guns aren't the problem, it's people who pull the trigger"...

 

[Leo]

Even in 2013 I'd think this would be a bit much

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Hetero imagination of what a gay/trans/nb person or whatever the hell this is supposed to be looks like.

 

[a Master Ninja]

That video from RDR2 where a player drags the lone feminist protestor to a crocodile still makes me sick.

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The actual story has you helping the Suffragettes.

 

[Paroni]

To be fair you can't really blame that on rockstar, that was not part of any mission or anything, you can kill any non story npc in rdr2, blame it on the incel dipshit who made that video.

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Non-mission NPCs in Rockstar games don't really serve any other purposes than being killable props in a crime spree theme park, so they likely knew exactly what kind of humor your average teenage male gamer would subject that NPC to.

 

[Richter1887]

About time. This shit was garbage then and still is.

 

[SirKai]

Non-mission NPCs in Rockstar games don't really serve any other purposes than being killable props in a crime spree theme park, so they likely knew exactly what kind of humor your average teenage male gamer would subject that NPC to.

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Can't you instigate casual conversations with any random NPC in RDR2? I haven't personally played it but the nuance of interaction with the NPCs seemed like a selling point around the time the game was released.

Anyway, it seems to be missing the forest for the trees to advocate for the removal of feminist characters/subject matter because the game allows certain levels of violence/freedom within its mechanics, even if that's not rewarded or informed by the actual character in the story (ie I don't think that's consistent with the characters in RDR).

Also, cutting the transphobic material from GTAV is the way to go, but I think at best we'll see a GTAVI without stuff. I think aside from licensing/legal matters that necessitate R* to trim the soundtracks over time, they're way too proud to remove anything from their games.

 

[platypotamus]

On the one hand, yes absolutely.

On the other hand removing the transphobia while leaving all the racism homophobia and misogyny would seem kinda silly and insufficient.

 

[KrillinLikeAVillan]

Non-mission NPCs in Rockstar games don't really serve any other purposes than being killable props in a crime spree theme park, so they likely knew exactly what kind of humor your average teenage male gamer would subject that NPC to.

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A bit less so in rdr2, you can rob anyone and if npc's witness crimes they will try to report it to the cops, so you are faced with the option of threatening, tying up or killing witnesses, killable npc's make more sense in rdr2 than in gta where they are just rampage fodder.

Having unkillable npc's would not make a lot of sense in a game where you play as a notorious outlaw robberer, i guess the option is to make some npc's unkillable, but where do you draw the line there.

 

[The Gold Hawk]

Holy Shit. Why the fuck was this in there in the first place*

Like, it surely wouldn't even be an impossible task to just remove those NPC models from spawning in game (and also remove them from the game itself to prevent the inevitable slew of shitheads making videos on Youtube) and to alter those signs/logos. Hell, give me five minutes on MS paint and I could sort those out.

*Obviously, I know why. Please don't explain. I will be sad.

 

[Kucan]

Hard to disagree with any of that. From what I remember were there not reports that Rockstar was also getting Grants/tax credits for producing content that is "culturally British"? Which also calls into question why this money is supporting hateful content that create and maintain harmful stereotypes.

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"Culturally British" refers to the UK's tax benefit system. You can get bigger benefits if you fulfil certain criteria. Mostly falling into two catagories, either the content is about, is set, or otherwise features British settings, stories or characters. Or, you produce the content using a British company, British employees or otherwise making the content in Britain.

GTA got most of it's 'Culturally British' status thanks to Rockstar North being Scottish.

 

[Siresly]

Yes.

They could remove these elements from other versions as well while they're at it.

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

Agreed, just fix it.

It's a tiny part of the game that would do a lot more good being removed.

 

[Phellps]

Aren't they allegedly revising 3, Vice City and San Andreas for the trilogy release and removing stuff like this? This kind of gives me hope they might do this with V as well.

Then again, nothing stopped them from just patching this out in the past. And they haven't.

 

[Deleted member 19702]

On the one hand, yes absolutely.

On the other hand removing the transphobia while leaving all the racism homophobia and misogyny would seem kinda silly and insufficient.

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This. If they remove the transphobia shit they should do the same for all the other nasty stuff in the game. Just removing one especific content while leaving others as bad unchanged will sound dubious.

 

[GrantDaNasty]

To anyone who would think "oh the game is just making fun of everyone, what makes this different?"

Mainly the part where Trans individuals have done *nothing* to deserve such depiction. It's just a stereotypical joke that causes a negative perception like having a middle-eastern man seem "suspicious" or showing black people as uncultured. "It's just Jokes" doesn't cut it in such a case because normalizing such behaviour does NOTHING to help those affected. It just solidifies that those stereotypes are the "norm".

People can argue that Rockstar just "pulls no punches" akin to South Park but again, it's harder to justify jokes against minorities and people who already experience harmful treatment from the environment around them.

There is enough money out there to make a GTA that is still satirical in nature, but doesn't need to be crass like this.

 

[Wil Grieve]

Fucking hell, never noticed this character when playing

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Me neither, jesus

 

[Kyuuji]

Yes.

They could remove these elements from other versions as well while they're at it.

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Facts.

 

[TheAbsolution]

Facts.

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Mmhmm. Totally agreed.
Bare minimum would be for the next gen versions though because we all know how Rockstar loves to go back and update their old games.

 

[Mesoian]

They should.

They won't though. They love this kind of..."humor". It's a franchise staple, and real time and effort is poured into such hateful rhetoric with the development of each game.

It's not a bug, it's a feature.

 

[Kyuuji]

Mmhmm. Totally agreed.
Bare minimum would be for the next gen versions though because we all know how Rockstar loves to go back and update their old games.

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Yeh, whereas I hope they respond to this I don't hold much hope in them doing it to the current version.

 

[Tyaren]

Oops, lol.