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With its glitzy cityscapes and trademark swagger, the Grand Theft Auto series looks, sounds and feels like a warped parody of America. But this blockbuster began its life in the small Scottish city of Dundee.
PHOTO: ROCKSTAR GAMES
The Economist
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The arrival of Grand Theft Auto VI in 2026 will be less a video-game release than a cultural moment. The game, which rewards players for stealing cars, selling drugs and killing cops, will have cost upwards of US$2 billion (S$2.56 billion) to build. Yet it will almost certainly turn a profit within its first week.
With its glitzy cityscapes, radio soundtrack and trademark swagger, the series looks, sounds and feels like a warped parody of America. Yet this blockbuster began its life in the small Scottish city of Dundee and is still made by a team of tartan nerds in Edinburgh – a feat celebrated in the British government’s strategy for the creative industries, released this June.
