Roughly one in four British adults told YouGov in a new poll that they’d take issue with a partner dating someone inside a video game. The results land just ahead of GTA 6, which launches in November with a romance at the heart of its story.
In September, the pollster put the question to 4,000 British adults: does dating in a video game count as cheating? About 6% answered yes. A further 19% said it didn’t qualify as cheating, but they still wouldn’t be okay with it.
That’s a lot of people unsettled by what amounts to two sets of polygons getting close.
Men and women answered very differently
Women were far less relaxed about it than men. Just 4% of men said it was cheating, against 7% of women. The difference widens in the “not cheating, but not okay” camp, where 13% of men and 24% of women placed themselves.
The BBC reported the poll with a headline posed as a question: can you cheat on someone with a video game character? Players were not fans of that angle.
“No, video game characters are not real, get a grip ffs!” Stetson Spatula wrote on X. A different X user replied: “Can you get arrested for murdering someone on call of duty?”
Plenty of the criticism brought up The Sims, a series where players have spent years marrying off their Sims, raising children, building careers and redecorating homes. Since people have played out domestic life in games for so long, many saw the alarm over GTA 6 as selective outrage.
What Jason and Lucia can get up to
GTA 6 stars two protagonists, Jason and Lucia, a couple in the mold of Bonnie and Clyde, and their relationship powers the entire game. Three steamy intimate shower scenes appeared in the recent launch trailer. Previews say the two can kiss with a button press and stroll around holding hands. Screenshots hint at beach dates and shopping trips as well, though that comes from reading the images and isn’t on any feature list.
Rockstar has confirmed one detail itself: how fast you reply to texts on the in-game phones can make the relationship flourish or fade. In Vice City, leaving someone on read now comes with a cost.
The romance is optional
GTA 6 has faced the cheating debate before. Back in August, a stream of upset spouses on social media argued the relationship system was detailed enough to count as cheating on a real partner, and grounds for a breakup. Several anxious people on TikTok said they wouldn’t allow their partner to play it at all.
Rockstar has said plainly that players can ignore all of it. When the game begins, Jason and Lucia are interested in a relationship, but it’s up to the player to pursue it. Skip that, and the two won’t be madly in love, though they’ll still look out for each other when it counts. Players who lean fully into the power couple side will probably get more from the game.
In an interview, Rob Nelson, co-studio head at Rockstar North, talked about how that plays.
“When you bring them together, it feels like you’re a steward of their relationship, and you feel protective of them as a unit,” Nelson said. “But this is something we did not know when we started, and it really had to be something we felt our way through. But I will say that whether you’re getting in trouble, or you’re running from the cops, or getting in a car, or waiting for the other one”
He continued: “playing as them together feels very cool. It feels like you’re taking care of them, if that’s something you’re into.”
Rockstar’s marketing push is in full swing before next month’s launch. Last week, real cars modified to resemble GTA vehicles were driven through Miami.