Summary
The anticipation forGrand Theft Auto 6has reached a bizarre new height, as a strange parody game labeled “Grand Taking Ages VI” was recently listed on the PlayStation Store. The rather spotty content curation of PlayStation’s digital storefront has attracted controversy in recent years, and thisGTA 6parody game yet again highlights the exact issue at play.
While PlayStation is the largest and most adopted console platform on the market, this popularity has given rise to a glaring issue with its digital storefront: shovelware. Copious quantities of blatant knock-offs and low-quality asset flips flood the PlayStation Store on a regular basis, and many of them even end up obscuring visibility for legitimate games. Sony did state a few years ago that it will take measures tomitigate the PlayStation Store’s shovelware problem, but so far, the issue has yet to be resolved in a meaningful way.
The PlayStation Store’s shovelware issue is making the rounds again, this time with alisting for an bizarre parody game dubbed Grand Taking Ages VI. Conveniently abbreviating to “GTA VI,” the listing is clearly a not-so-subtle dig at theextensive amount of time Rockstar Games is taking to developGTA 6. Keeping that in mind, Grand Taking Ages VI seemingly touts itself as a game developer simulator and the “most anticipated game about making the most anticipated game.” Players can supposedly run their “dream game studio” while “juggling angry fans, corporate chaos, and endless delays” in Grand Taking Ages VI.
GTA 6 Parody Game With AI-Generated Artwork Surfaces on PlayStation Store
Grand Taking Ages VI’s PlayStation Store listingfeatures a banner stylized in the form of the iconic artwork associated withGTAgames, but looks to be almost certainly AI-generated. Moreover, the listing’s description mentions fake awards from notable video game websites, and eventhe PlayStation 6for some reason. There’s also a stipulated release window of May 2025 for theGTA 6spoof, although given its developer’s track record, it seems highly unlikely that this game will ever release or is even an actual project. The studio attached to Grand Taking Ages VI is Violarte, a Polish company whose website is filled with similar AI-generated taglines, fake awards, and non-existent projects that seem to plagiarize other popular games.
Although some may find Grand Taking Ages VI’s obvious satirization ofRockstar’s radio silence aroundGTA 6amusing, it’s quite concerning that a fake parody game from a seemingly-fake developer somehow passed certification and was listed on the PlayStation Store, that too with no apparent qualms over its likely AI-generated artwork. Either Violarte managed to find some loopholes in the certification process, or Sony’s aforementioned crackdown on PlayStation Store’s shovelware issue simply hasn’t worked. Hopefully, the widespread reporting on Grand Taking Ages VI will compel Sony to take a more rigorous look at its certification guidelines for the PlayStation Store to prevent such instances going forward.
Grand Theft Auto 6
WHERE TO PLAY
Grand Theft Auto VI heads to the state of Leonida, home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet.Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them. But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive.
