GTA 6’s Jason and Lucia raise a question: Can a video game character mean you cheat on someone?
A relationship players can shape
Jason and Lucia, the Bonnie and Clyde-style leads in Rockstar’s new Grand Theft Auto, are not required to become a couple. Players can develop their connection through actions such as holding hands and replying promptly to one another’s messages.
The game offers a broader range of choices and interactions than earlier examples of relationships with computer-controlled characters. In The Sims, players could flirt, go on dates, marry and have children with non-player characters.
Views differ on fictional intimacy
A YouGov survey put the question to more than 4,000 British adults in September. One respondent said it could be concerning if someone skipped plans with a partner or directed intimacy toward a fictional character.
Alli Franco, a 30-year-old Texan gaming and anime creator with more than a million TikTok followers, said she felt “dismayed” by the online debate. Franco compared attraction to a fictional character with having a crush on a television star, saying it was further removed from cheating because no other real person was involved.
Games and changing relationships
Video games have offered relationships with non-player characters for decades, but GTA 6 gives players more ways to influence the bond between its two leads. One unnamed speaker said games are getting better at imitating real life and social relationships.
Artificial intelligence could make future characters respond to earlier encounters and change their relationships over time, rather than following fixed scripts. Franco said this might make connections feel more substantial, but described current AI as producing a stronger illusion rather than a genuinely meaningful bond.
Franco draws a clear line
Franco said she already sees advertisements for AI chatbots that let fans talk with favourite anime characters. Even if such interactions develop, she said she would still regard them as a game.
“At the end of the day you can’t cheat with lines of code,” Franco said. Her view contrasts with respondents who said that fictional intimacy could become an issue if it displaced time or closeness with a real-life partner.
Key points
- Rockstar says Jason and Lucia do not have to become a romantic couple.
- Players can shape their relationship through choices and everyday interactions.
- A YouGov poll asked more than 4,000 British adults about fictional intimacy.
- Alli Franco said a fictional character is not another real person.