An open letter to Rockstar Games

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