Is playing GTA 6 cheating on your partner? A TikTok argument says yes, and it's spreading
The row over GTA 6's romance mechanic has reached the studio that built it
Dubai: Rockstar spent last week showing off Grand Theft Auto VI in detail, and the topic that has travelled the most is not a weapon, a car or a heist. It is hand-holding.
The game's two protagonists, Jason and Lucia, are in a relationship the player can actively nurture. You can take them on dates, commit crimes together, text back and forth. A section of social media has decided that nurturing any of this amounts to cheating on your actual, non-fictional partner.
What began as a handful of TikToks has become one of the odder gaming rows of the year, and it has now pulled in the studio, the wider player base and at least one engaged couple who have gone public with their disagreement.
"Don't let your boyfriend or fiancé or husband play GTA 6"
The discourse took off on social media after the extended gameplay look went live on 27 August, according to IGN, which reported on the backlash.
TikTok creator Shelby Haas laid out the objection: the game asks you to maintain a relationship with a woman, to text her, to take her out, and she reacts badly if you ignore her. Her conclusion, and the line that has been quoted most widely since, was, "Don't let your boyfriend or fiancé or husband play GTA 6."
Her fiancé, Alex Eubank, posted his own response. "Do I want to play GTA VI? Of course I want to, but if it bothers my woman, I won't be playing," he said. He said he wants to play it, rated her concerns as reasonable, and has decided not to.
Other creators went further and called playing the game outright infidelity.
The pushback
Plenty of people are unconvinced. The most common counterargument is that The Sims has let players build virtual families for a quarter of a century without triggering any equivalent panic.
And the fact of the matter is that...the relationship side of things in GTA VI is optional.
As IGN notes, Jason and Lucia start out wanting one, but the player decides whether to pursue it. Skip it and they are less devoted, though still loyal when it counts.
What Rockstar has said
Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson told IGN that playing the pair as a unit gives you a protective, custodial feeling, and that this was not something the studio anticipated at the outset. He described it as something the team felt its way towards.
On whether players can be in a relationship outside of the scripted story scenes, Nelson said was non-committal. He acknowledged that physical intimacy matters in a relationship and said the studio is still iterating on how to handle it. Rockstar has confirmed nothing either way.
Grand Theft Auto VI is officially scheduled to release on November 19, 2026
