The Ultraviolent, Wildly Successful, Uniquely American Phenomenon of Grand Theft Auto

Thursday, Nov. 19 will see the release of one of the biggest, most anticipated entertainment properties of the year: The video game Grand Theft Auto VI.
The first Grand Theft Auto game was released in 1997, and immediately stoked controversy with its aggressively satirical portrait of amoral, criminal American culture. Over the past 30 years, the franchise has continued to keep a sharp satirical eye on American society, and its often unpleasant excesses. The sixth installment promises to touch on hot-button issues like the war on drugs, police violence, conspiracy theories and influencer culture. And yet, even though the game has already made one billion dollars in pre-order sales, it might be the last time we ever see one of this scale.
In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Michael Barbaro talks with reporter Zachary Small, who covers video games for The Times, about Grand Theft Auto and how it became one of the biggest video game franchises of all time.

On Today’s Episode
Zachary Small (nytimes.com/by/zachary-small?eafs_enabled=false) is a New York Times reporter writing about the art world’s relationship to money, politics and technology.
Photo credit: Jeenah Moon for Reuters.
Background Reading
• The Grand Ambitions of Grand Theft Auto VI (nytimes.com/2026/08/27/arts/grand-theft-auto-v…)
• Miami Is Crime Ridden in ‘Grand Theft Auto.’ Should It Market the Myth? (nytimes.com/2026/09/24/us/miami-grand-theft-au…)
• Get Ready for Grand Theft Auto VI and 11 More Games to Play This Fall (nytimes.com/2026/09/10/arts/video-game-release…)

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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