Key Takeaways
- A GTA 6 parody game dubbed “Grand Taking Ages VI” was recently listed on the PlayStation Store.
- The Grand Taking Ages VI listing pokes fun at GTA 6’s long development time, features AI-generated artwork, and comes from a seemingly-fake developer.
- This situation has yet again raised concerns over the PlayStation Store’s certification guidelines, with many calling for Sony to be stricter with shovelware.
The anticipation for Grand Theft Auto 6 has 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 this GTA 6 parody 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 to mitigate the PlayStation Store’s shovelware problem, but so far, the issue has yet to be resolved in a meaningful way.
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The PlayStation Store’s shovelware issue is making the rounds again, this time with a listing 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 the extensive amount of time Rockstar Games is taking to develop GTA 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 listing features a banner stylized in the form of the iconic artwork associated with GTA games, but looks to be almost certainly AI-generated. Moreover, the listing’s description mentions fake awards from notable video game websites, and even the PlayStation 6 for some reason. There’s also a stipulated release window of May 2025 for the GTA 6 spoof, 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 of Rockstar’s radio silence around GTA 6 amusing, 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.
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