The Real Reason Elon Musk Doesn't Like Grand Theft Auto
Rockstar Games finally revealed the first trailer for "Grand Theft Auto 6" on Monday night after an unknown party leaked the preview on X (formerly known as Twitter). In the midst of all the excitement, some fans may have missed a particularly prominent name voicing their disdain for the popular video game series. It seems Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has some qualms with the over-the-top crime sprees seen in the "Grand Theft Auto" series, which never quite caught on for him. The billionaire businessman expressed these feelings — where else? — in a post thread on X, the social media platform he acquired in a staggering $44 billion dollar deal in 2022.
Musk explained that he'd attempted to get into the last "Grand Theft Auto" game, but found that it was not to his tastes. "Tried, but didn't like doing crime," Musk posted. "GTA5 required shooting police officers in the opening scene. Just couldn't do it."
Musk, who has stirred up greater controversy in recent weeks for posts that have been seen as antisemitic, was almost immediately dogpiled on by "Grand Theft Auto" fans. Some argued that Musk shouldn't get so upset by a fictional storyline, while others refused to believe that he stopped playing that early in the game. Others simply posted memes making fun of Musk's professed pacifism. Gamers are nothing if not protective of their favorite franchises.
How Elon Musk thinks GTA should be: https://t.co/peX43ABRUC pic.twitter.com/0T83G1FZwF
— Eli ✯ (@Josukeshair_) December 5, 2023
X isn't entirely anti-GTA
It's probably worth noting that Elon Musk's post about "Grand Theft Auto" doesn't seem to speak for the entirety of the social media platform. In stark contrast to the site owner's dismissal of the franchise, X CEO Linda Yaccarino has asked Rockstar Games to embed its new trailer directly on the company's X account, rather than direct fans to check out the YouTube listing. Some have seen Yaccarino's post as being a bit of damage control in the aftermath of Musk's "GTA" comments, while others see it as a play to get more internet traffic coming to X. After all, the platform is currently experiencing a mass exodus of advertisers in the wake of Musk's more inflammatory posts.
.@RockstarGames — gaming is one of our most popular topics. Drop that trailer here — give the people on @X what they want!! https://t.co/sU3hHk9pgQ
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) December 5, 2023
Whatever the case, Rockstar doesn't seem interested in taking the bait. It makes a certain amount of sense that the company may not want to engage with X at this time. After all, as pointed out by the official Opera GX account, "The trailer [the developers] have been working on for years for leaked on this platform, Linda."