Grand Theft Auto series faces ban over ‘negative influence’

Ahead of the launching of Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6, the Rockstar Games’s popular franchise has been banned by Tajikistan over its ‘negative influence’ on children.

Critics of the popular series have been accusing Rockstar Games of glorifying violence and encouraging players to engage in criminal behaviour – allegations Take-Two Interactive executives have denied.

Players in the Grand Theft Auto series sell drugs, fight, rob, go on car rampages and more. Gameplay options also included assaulting sex workers and going to strip clubs, raising the ire of activists.

The allegations have now led Tajikistan to ban the game along with Counter-Strike, claiming that they encourage criminal activity.

In a Telegram post, the Dushanbe Department of Internal Affairs announced banning the two franchises while revealing that police will start conducting raids on any retailers suspected of selling the aforementioned games.

As per the statement, the likes of GTA and Counter-Strike “promote killing, theft, and violence” and that “young people and teenagers who regularly play these games come under their negative influence and commit various crimes.”

Meanwhile, Rockstar Games reiterated that the hotly-anticipated GTA 6 will be released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S soon after Take-Two Interactive announced that the sixth title in the Grand Theft Auto series will be released in the Fall of 2025.

The first and only trailer for Grand Theft Auto’s sixth title was dropped on December 4, 2023.

The trailer shows GTA 6 will be set in the fictional Vice City, reminiscent of Miami, and appears to feature the first playable female character in the franchise.

Set to the Tom Petty song “Love Is A Long Road,” the GTA 6 trailer opens with a female character named Lucia being released from prison in what appears to be a fictionalized version of Florida.