Grand Theft Auto 6 will (hopefully) arrive later this year, just over 13 years after the last entry in the series, and as such, it’s fair to say that the world has changed quite a bit since then. And of course, Grand Theft Auto has become a franchise that’s known for critiquing and parodying the modern world by holding a mirror up to the best and worst of the current cultural zeitgeist.
Unfortunately, this means that podcasting is likely well and truly in the crosshairs this time around, given the absolute explosion in the popularity of podcasts and the often controversial figures that host them in recent years.
GTA 5 mostly took aim at talk shows and radio, but in the years since, it’s clear that podcasting and streaming have stuck the final nail in the coffin for those now ancient formats.
So, how will GTA 6 handle idle radio and podcasting? Will it feature a dedicated station or an in-game app that allows access to a host of podcasting shows? I’d bet money on it. As such, here are five styles of podcast that I believe will be parodied, torn apart, and given that distinctive Grand Theft Auto flavor in GTA 6.
Pseudo health gurus
The rise of the health podcaster has been a difficult one to witness in recent years. On one hand, getting advice from genuinely well-qualified experts beamed directly into your eyes via your phone is an understandably attractive proposition. On the other hand, many of the most popular podcasts in the health genre also feature individuals who have something to gain, a product or treatment to sell, and this can lead to very dangerous consequences.
Now, I think Rockstar will go down the route of parody here, and I’m betting we’ll see characters that are more over the top and sleazier than well-meaning healthcare professionals. A podcast promoting unregulated supplements, regimes that encourage you to sleep less and plunge yourself into giant vats of ice more, for example, could well be on the cards. When paired with an in-game character - perhaps one that you can meet and complete missions for in the world - and this could be a very fertile space for chaos, hilarity, and plenty of winks and nudges toward the camera.
Untrue Crime
The crime-ridden series of Grand Theft Auto is primed for a dedicated Vice City true crime podcast. Better yet, you’ll likely be involved in some of the wrongdoings happening all around the city yourself, and it’d be very intriguing indeed to hear about ongoing cases that involve characters you meet and even work with throughout GTA 6’s story.
I’d expect a decidedly more outrageous take on popular true crime podcasts to be just the ticket, hosted by podcasters who - despite doing their best to sound impartial and sensitive to the abhorrent crimes being committed in Vice City - are nonetheless happy to morbidly profit off of it all.
True crime podcasts tend to walk a very fine line between titillation and informative discussion, and GTA 6’s version would do well to abandon that line altogether. From the trailers released so far, it’s clear that there are some very eccentric and downright despicable characters at play, and I’d love to see one of them become the subject of an ongoing podcast series that tracks the in-game murders they’re carrying out.
Vice City CEOs
Ah, CEOs, we sure do love to hate them.
Unfortunately, we also love to listen to them, with entire industries continuing to thrive on the CEO-forward podcasting space. There will obviously be a huge mega corporation in GTA 6, and those that front them are ripe for the picking as far as in-game podcast series are concerned. In a world where billionaires are trying to make themselves immortal, while others do everything in their power just to seem likeable, a video game that parodies the ridiculous figures we hold up so high doesn’t seem absurd at all.
What I would like to see here is a slightly more subtle take on the billionaire CEO. It’s all well and good having direct analogues to Musk, Zuckerberg and the like, but I think I speak for everyone when I say I’ve had my fill of those guys for one lifetime. The obvious play would be a The Joe Rogan Experience parody, but I’d rather Rockstar went in a different direction. The Diary of a CEO could be the way to go, allowing Rockstar to parody seemingly sincere podcast discussions centered around individuals who are just so transparently trying to sell an agenda or product. I’d love to see in-game characters appear on this show and make comments on the disruption you and your crew are undoubtedly going to be causing throughout Vice City.
AITA
Relationship advice podcasts are extremely popular these days, and many of them pull from Reddit’s AITA (Am I the A**hole) threads for content.
These threads are usually posted by someone wondering whether their actions are justified in certain situations, and over the years, it’s really taken off as a bleak but undeniably moreish look into the human psyche. There are plenty of podcasts that do a great job of mining this subject for discussion, most notably Two Hot Takes, and a Vice City analogue could really help flesh out the tone of GTA 6’s world.
Of course, GTA 6’s dual protagonists are in a relationship too, and it'd be hilarious to have a series of posts read out on a relationship podcast that are clearly written by one of the couple. Minor squabbles about how the two live together could play out in real time, and could even be reflected in the protagonists’ living quarters. Even without involving any major characters, a podcast that reads out anonymous posts pertaining to people you’ve actually met in-game would be brilliant.
Drag Race
Vice City is expected to have a truly bustling nightlife scene in GTA 6. Hopefully, the game does justice to the queer spaces and vibrant diversity of modern-day Miami, which has one of the largest and most prominent LGBTQ communities in the United States.
A great way to bolster this representation would be to include a Vice City drag scene, with local celebrities and revered drag queens. This would reflect the rise of drag culture over the last ten years, especially in the mainstream, with shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race having had a massive impact on queer representation.
While it’s fun to imagine all of the ways podcasts could be parodied in GTA 6 in a negative light, it’d be lovely to have some genuine positivity by offering a podcast hosted by two prominent drag queens. This would largely take Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamo’s The Bald and the Beautiful as inspiration, and could really help flesh out an area of GTA 6’s world that should be front and center in the world design. The game’s main story will likely have you diving deep into nightclubs, queer bars and bustling counter culture anyway, so having some properly fleshed out drag queen characters would be a great way to tie things all together. Have them host a podcast about their lives, mention popular spots in Vice City, and I think this could be a real winner.
Whether or not GTA 6 will feature in-game podcasts remains to be seen. I certainly think it will, especially given Rockstar’s past care in fleshing out radio stations and talk shows.
While we wait for more on GTA 6, be sure to check out my article on the six movies that GTA 6 absolutely has to reference in missions.
Elsewhere, there’s the news of a former Grand Theft Auto technical director discussing GTA 6’s most recent delay.
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