Despite being delisted from other gaming platforms, an upcoming management game that pokes fun at Rockstar’s long development of GTA 6 has emerged on Steam. After being booted off of the PlayStation Store by Sony for looking like a fake listing, using AI to generate GTA-style art, and using satirical claims of it already winning awards, Grand Taking Ages has now remarkably appeared on Valve’s storefront.
2025 should, if all goes to plan, be the year that the GTA 6 release date finally arrives. The wait for Rockstar’s new open-world sandbox (and its silence since dropping its reveal trailer over 13 months ago) is resulting in frustration, hysteria, and wild conspiracy theories. Aiming to capitalize on this and make a “parody” of GTA 6‘s situation is Grand Taking Ages, an incredibly ropey-looking management game that has you run a game studio and, erm, punch your investors in the face.
Originally appearing late last year on the PlayStation Store as Grand Taking Ages VI, its description at the time pitched it as “the most anticipated game about making the most anticipated game.” The use of AI in its key art and close aesthetic similarities to GTA saw it quickly removed, but now developer Violarte has gone with a less misleading approach and ditched the ‘VI’ from the game’s name and has managed to get a Steam page up.
In a statement sent to IGN, Violarte says it’s made these changes “to clearly differentiate Grand Taking Ages from the original inspiration, GTA 6, and to emphasize its unique direction.”
“We approached Steam differently by engaging with their team about the concept of our game before officially submitting it,” the studio adds. “This allowed us to get their perspective early on, ensuring alignment with their guidelines.”
Now that its Steam page is up and running, we’ve also got more gameplay details and a trailer – and oh boy, it looks rough. While GTA 6 is the punching bag, Grand Taking Ages clearly wants to satirize the entire process of making games today. In the section of its description talking about its studio-building features, Violarte outlines how you’ll “Design the perfect workspace (or at least make it look good for investor visits). Hire a dream team based on their ability to survive on pizza. Upgrade from “borrowed” assets to actually original content. Install increasingly elaborate coffee machines to boost morale.”
The gameplay in the trailer looks incredibly ropey, and just like its artwork, AI is being used for the spectacularly unfunny voice lines. It also shows how you’ll be able to engage in hand-to-hand combat with angry gamers, journalists, and investors, which is… a choice. You can watch the trailer and give yourself a chuckle (or disbelieving sigh) here.
Grand Taking Ages is supposedly launching in July of this year. Until then, here are some actually decent simulation games you can play right now, and here are some much more legit upcoming PC games. If you’re in need of a real GTA 6 fix, our sister site GTA Db has collated everything there is to know about the game ahead of launch.
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