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- The GTA series revolves around satirizing American culture, often mocking real-life social issues.
- Past games have featured major celebrities, like Samuel L. Jackson in GTA San Andreas and Ray Liotta in GTA Vice City, contributing to their mainstream appeal.
- With the release of GTA 6, the series is expected to include even more distinct and relevant celebrity cameos, reflecting the evolving digital landscape.
The GTA series revolves around American culture in a satirical manner, making fun of every social issue. This is pretty evident from GTA 6’s trailer, which recreates memes and events happening in real-life America.
As such, the game is heavily focused on pop culture and has influenced pop culture to some great extent. The series isn’t shy about taking shots at major celebrities and even featuring them.
Throughout 11 entries spanning four different decades, we’ve seen some real familiar faces or, in some cases, voices in the IP. Major Hollywood legends like Samuel L. Jackson as Officer Tenpenny in GTA San Andreas and Ray Liotta as Tommy Vercetti in GTA Vice City are just a few examples.
With each entry, the franchise delved further into mainstream pop culture, including missions replicating real-life incidents, pushing this element further. As such, GTA 5 included major celebrity cameos like Tyler, The Creator, Mos Def, and Lazlow Jones.
Although it has been over a decade since the release of GTA 5, and the digital landscape is changing, GTA 6’s cameos will probably be the best and most distinct in the series.
Why it matters: Take-Two has previously said Rockstar is aiming for perfection with GTA 6. The studio is also said to be doing never-before-seen things, so I expect the same approach to celebrity cameos.
Celebrities Should Cameo As Parody Characters
GTA parodies pop culture and almost everything in real-life America, down to basic food and drink brands like Sprite being called Sprunk in GTA and KRAPEA instead of IKEA, adding another layer of humor to the game.
GTA San Andreas‘ Ryder also looks vaguely familiar to N.W.A’s legendary member Eazy-E, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he were used as an inspiration for the character design. The other Grove Street member, Sweet, was based on Ice Cube, another N.W.A member.
For those who remember Lazlow, he was an annoying reporter who appeared in GTA 4’s DLCs and GTA 5; Lazlow’s character parodied Jeffrey Crawford “Lazlow” Jones, a developer who helped write scripts for multiple GTA titles and Red Dead Redemption.
Using real-life characters would go against every reason GTA was made in the first place. In my opinion, GTA should keep the tradition of parodying real-life characters. The latest GTA Online DLC, “The Contract,” featured legendary West Coast rapper and producer Dr. Dre.
His inclusion in the game didn’t feel that fitting, even though it worked quite well. Dr. Dre was also a member of the N.W.A., so his being the only original character was a bit strange.
Celebrity Cameos We Want To See In GTA 6
As I’ve mentioned, the gap between GTA 5 and GTA 6, which is scheduled for a fall 2025 release, is the longest in the series yet. The world has changed a lot since then; the internet has become an even bigger part of our lives, we’ve gone through COVID-19, and the celebrity and streamer culture has increased substantially.
As such, I wouldn’t be surprised if GTA 6 featured more streamers than it does celebrities. Big YouTubers like Mr. Beast and streamers like Kai Cenat or iShowSpeed would be the obvious choices as NPCs in GTA 6. The game will even feature the Florida Joker and a famous Karen from a viral internet video.
While these two aren’t exactly celebrities, they show the kind of satire Rockstar will aim for. Still, I would want GTA 6 to feature Hollywood celebrities too. Snoop Dogg is long overdue for a cameo as a character or a parody. LeBron James, Kanye West, and Johnny Depp are also some celebrities I want to see in the game.
I can obviously picture some sort of political rivalry being featured in GTA 6, with Donald Trump going against Joe Biden or his friendship with Putin and Kim Jong Un. Elon Musk is also a no-brainer as an entrepreneur parody.
Rockstar might have to face legal complications before including such characters, so perhaps my expectations are a bit unrealistic. Anyhow, I’m still confident that the developer will knock it out of the park with the cameos this time.
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[News Reporter]
Shaheer is currently pursuing a Business degree while also working as a part-time Content Writer. With his deep passion for both writing and video games, he has seamlessly transitioned into a role as a Journalist. Over the past two years, Shaheer has contributed as a freelancer to various websites and landed positions on acclaimed platforms like Gamerant. Currently, his role at Tech4gamers is as a Features Writer, but he also covers News occasionally. Shaheer’s favorite gaming franchises are Assassin’s Creed and the God of War series.
Get In Touch: shaheer@tech4gamers.com
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