Rockstar removed transphobic elements from next-gen releases

Known above all for its irreverent tone, Rockstar Games is a studio that does not hesitate to hit everyone, with a caustic humor that depicts a satirical vision of society. It’s all part of the studio’s DNA, and that’s also why GTA games are so popular with players. But that was before. Before the MeToo hashtag, before the release of speech and before this global awareness that changed the landscape in general. Attacked by Out Making Games (an LGBT+ association which works to change the image of their community in video games) in an open letter in September 2021, Rockstar Games took the decision to remove certain elements deemed transphobic in GTA 5 Caricatural Drag Queens characters that hung around the Cockatoos nightclub were changed, as were some dialogues that were also deemed transphobic.

The models still exist in Director Mode at the moment, but their dialogue options have been removed (presumably this means protagonist dialogue lines to these NPCs about using hormones etc are therefore unused now too).

PC vs. PS5. Thanks @SpiderVice for the PC screens. pic.twitter.com/rjkKkMfBtG

—Kirsty Cloud (@kirstycloud) April 8, 2022

The Captain Spacetoy figurine which was displayed on a wall and whose particularity was to be able to change gender at any time has also been removed from the game. If Rockstar Games has never communicated about this event dated last September, we notes that the studio responded favorably to the requests, also because the open letter had been relayed by the Kotaku site at the time, which has a fairly significant weight in the United States. Note that these changes are only valid on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions released on March 15, 2022.