GTA Online is like a Xenomorph, in a lot of ways. It’s an iconic behemoth, one that creates a parasitic relationship with its hosts and refuses to die. It also thrives unexpectedly during quarantine.
Grand Theft Auto 5 celebrated its seventh birthday during this noxious year, but Los Santos has never been busier. The game sold 400,000 copies in under four months in the UK, in the midst of our first national lockdown. That success might have had something to do with the *ahem* player-driven alien gang war that consumed the game (and most of social media) in April.
But if you need a stone-cold example of GTA Online’s enduring relevance, Sony led with the damn thing during its PlayStation 5 reveal conference. In 2021, Rockstar’s service sandbox will land on the monolithic mini-fridge and its router rival, the first of its kind to span three generations of consoles.
