I want to bring up a small sample/example case here because I keep seeing this take. The following link below is to a thread about Capcom finding success in Pragmata and that they are considering a sequel due to this. The topic has
nothing to do with cultural issues, but about monetary success for a good video game.
Can you explain to me how post #41 in the thread linked below, is a rational post in that thread?
https://www.gamesradar.com/games/third-person-shooter/capcom-teases-that-pragmata-might-have-a-future-as-a-franchise-after-at-least-6-years-in-development-hell-pays-off-with-1-million-sales-in-2-days/ Capcom itself is pretty happy with the game's performance, to the point where it's starting...
www.neogaf.com
Now take a post like that, and consider how many times posts like that one continues to happen,
unprovoked, in threads on this site about various topics that are unrelated to cultural issues, like graphics, hardware, hardware requirements, prominent figures passing away or retiring, etc.
What do you think of that?
It's was a completely rational post because it says that if the company is happy enough with the sales perfomance of the game they can make a sequel (seems to be the case accourding to some official statement), and that the ending of the first game won't stop their writers to find some story to make a sequel if they want to do it.
As example it highlights a somewhat similar case where they adressed a somewhat similar case and did it with a huge success (TLOU2). Which is just one of many cases (see Sony to get many examples) of western devs having no issue in making sequels getting rid of their iconic white heterosexual male protagonists, and shown a specific example that did it with record breaking sales success.
That publisher/dev (Sony) did it having as one of their top shareholders a hedge fund (Blackrock) whose CEO publicly admitted they worce wokism/DEI in the companies they invest, which include -among tons of companies of tons of industries- many top game publishers, top movie studios, top news (tv, radio, internet, newspapers, magazines...) media conglomerates and other hedge funds who also are top shareholders of these companies. It isn't cultural issues or conspiracy, it's organized social engineering. Even if many people, including pretty likely all the devs who made these games aren't aware of these things. Many of them don't even have an opinion and just do the job their boss asked them to do.
Inside the spoiler tag it included an example of how they could follow the story. And well, somebody with professional narrative/writing expertise obviously would do it way better than me.
TLDR: based on the factual cases of many previous examples, the post said they'll make a sequel if they want (seems to be the case), and the story won't stop it because there have been many similar cases of getting rid one of the protagonists / the protagonist(s), some of them with big success.
If/When you lose the ability to hire hookers and then shoot them in the head to get your money back after the sex, I think that will be a good indication that the IP is a shadow of its former edgy self. Wokeness or no wokeness.
But honestly, I think GTA may be the only IP that is so fucking big to fail that it could make every single main character and NPC an LGBTQ flag-waving transexual and still make a shit ton of money. You would need at least two - three GTA games in a row being complete disappointments and utterly devoted to The Message to weaken the IP.
As of right now, it is impossible to fail, IMO.
Rockstar has a great track record on using big controversies on their favor as free marketing. When they started, they made out fake news about them sending fake stories to UK tabloids. One of the guys who started it came from a music label, and that was what they did as part of the promotion of their rock stars. So the guy thought it would be a good idea to apply the same strategy to a gamedev studio.
At some point, the tabloids started to made up their stuff themselves.
Nowadays we're in a very different situation: Rockstar no longer needs that pre-internet viral marketing. The insane popularity of GTAV/GTA Online and RDR2 created a super huge fanbase who will talk everywhere about the game, and the both whole gaming media and all the gaming streamers/youtubers/tiktokers know that the game is going to be super popular and will give them a record amount of clicks, so make sure the game will get a record coverage.
GTAs always have been about edgy satire about everything (particularly US/western culture) and playing as bad guys having a lot of freedom to do tons of things, most of them illegal. The game has been developed during the rise and fall of wokism, so in normal conditions would make sense that they would make satire about wokism, Biden or Trump as they did about everything else.
In therory, if somebody has money to have the creative freedom to do so is them. But Rockstar is owned by Take 2, whose main shareholders include Blackrock, Vanguard, State Street, the Saudi PUF (some of their investments in the west handled by Jared Kusher) or JP Morgan, having each 5-12% of the company as I remember, at least some time ago. So separatedly couldn't do much pressure, but together can have influence.
Investor pressure, not needing virality via controversies, shift in the media (not just games) to being politically correct with wokism and in general avoiding edgy stuff and savage satire makes me think GTA6 will be softer in these areas compared to their pre-wokism games. But who knows, let's hope they don't give a shit and the amount of money they generate allows them to do what the want and what many people expects from them. I always loved satire that punches all sides in the face.