{"id":1776,"date":"2026-09-22T16:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T16:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/grand-theft-auto-players-are-voting-debating-protesting-and-making-political-decisions\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T16:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T16:37:10","slug":"grand-theft-auto-players-are-voting-debating-protesting-and-making-political-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/grand-theft-auto-players-are-voting-debating-protesting-and-making-political-decisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Theft Auto: players are voting, debating, protesting and making political decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span> Mehaniq\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The gameplay trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI, one of the most anticipated entertainment releases of the decade, landed at the end of August. For those unfamiliar with it, the satirical video game is famous for allowing players to drive around a fictional US city committing crime and shooting people. But as well as misdemeanours, it has also given them the chance to engage in a form of in-game politics.<\/p>\n

The previous instalment of Grand Theft Auto<\/a>, GTA V, was a huge hit, grossing US$1 billion<\/a> (\u00a3750 million) faster than any other game in history. But it remains controversial \u2013 both politicians<\/a> and academics<\/a> have examined the franchise\u2019 effects amid concerns it may be harmful to young people. <\/p>\n

Despite a petition and an eventual ban<\/a> in Australia however, even negative UK reviews<\/a> of the fifth instalment, released in 2013, still found space to praise the game for how enjoyable it could be. <\/p>\n

When playing online, gamers around the world can connect to play out their own stories in the fictional city of Los Santos. In these emergent worlds, players use proximity voice chat (meaning they can \u201chear\u201d other people only when they are close to them in the game) to embody characters and interact. Collectively, they can create an ongoing story that might involve protest<\/a> or politics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Working, marrying and voting<\/h2>\n

My research explores how players engage in politics in online roleplaying spaces.
\nAs part of my ongoing PhD, I lived as my avatar \u201cAlice\u201d for six months in GTA V roleplaying servers. I learned the roleplayers\u2019 rules, came to understand their customs and became part of their community. I worked, attended events, became a reporter and even married a gang leader. <\/p>\n

Over time, logging in to a four or five-hour GTA session felt like returning to a familiar city rather than just playing a game. These were spaces where players lived full and immersive lives, working as cleaners, for example, holding Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and attending weekly church services delivered by an in-game minister. <\/p>\n

To avoid dating this latest instalment, the game\u2019s developer, Rockstar Games, has not made any references to Donald Trump or COVID. But when it comes to how politics happen in the game, Rockstar\u2019s control ends where the players\u2019 creativity begins. Players in some servers used simple, town hall votes to make decisions about important (and, in the context of GTA, relevant) issues such as increasing police powers. They even borrowed the UK parliament\u2019s division lobby of \u201cayes\u201d and \u201cnoes\u201d. <\/p>\n

The trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Others held elections to choose their governor and legislative branch, forming a comprehensive political structure complete with government departments. The legislature could introduce and debate new laws, while the judicial system provided a mechanism for resolving disputes.<\/p>\n

I took part in one server\u2019s biannual election, culminating in going to city hall to cast my ballot. The election looked surprisingly familiar. At the debates, candidates made opening statements, answered questions from the host and then faced questions from an audience of players. <\/p>\n

One asked how they would write a bill, a test set by a former member of government to see whether candidates understood the job. Another asked where they stood on the death penalty. Voting involved a trip to city hall and ranking my voting preferences on the ballot paper.<\/p>\n

In interviews, some players described relatively limited engagement with conventional politics. One participant, a 26-year-old UK man, told me, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t vote \u2026 I thought about it a couple of times but \u2026 I don\u2019t know what actually goes on, I don\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing\u201d. Yet within the server he was enthusiastically participating in decision-making and political discussions.<\/p>\n

\n \"rear<\/a>
\n Online roleplaying can provide a space for players to engage with politics, from elections to debates and collective decision-making.<\/span>
\n Girts Ragelis\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Across my research, I repeatedly saw players adding political institutions and processes to spaces where they did not already exist. They had found ways to decide who gets what, when and how<\/a> in the server \u2013 perhaps the essence of politics \u2013 in an effective and engaging way.<\/p>\n

Offline, dissatisfaction with politics<\/a> is high, trust in politicians<\/a> is low and turnout at elections is falling<\/a>. So it is striking that players are taking politics to GTA V online roleplaying servers, beyond Rockstar\u2019s original design. <\/p>\n

For some, the online space is more engaging \u2013 players encounter forms of political participation that feel meaningful to them. The fictional setting does not make participation fictional: players still spend their time debating candidates, negotiating rules, voting and deciding what should happen in the community they inhabit.<\/p>\n

GTA VI will be released in November and will undoubtedly be shaped by Rockstar\u2019s decisions. The company can decide which political subjects to leave out and which to include. But once millions of players enter GTA VI\u2019s online worlds, they will bring their own ideas, communities and forms of organisation with them. <\/p>\n

These online communities show that politics can come from players who create elections, governments, debates and decision-making themselves. So perhaps the question isn\u2019t whether the new instalment of GTA will be political. It\u2019s what players will do with the political possibilities it gives them.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Emma Brewis receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mehaniq\/Shutterstock The gameplay trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI, one of the most anticipated entertainment releases of the decade, landed at the end of August. For those unfamiliar with it, the satirical video game is famous for allowing players to drive around a fictional US city committing crime and shooting people. But as well as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}