The internet is an ever-evolving thing, for better and for worse, and as a result of that, you need to be careful about what you do, what you send, and most importantly, what you post for all to see. In the case of YouTube, many classic channels have seen their viewership numbers plummet in recent times due to the YouTube algorithm “trying to be more accurate,” by denying views that have ad blockers on them. How kind. What does any of this have to do with GTA 6? Well, as noted by Vice, the platform has changed one of its gaming policies around what kinds of videos can be shown.
In this case, we’re talking about videos that depict violence against “realistic NPCs.” Here’s the quote from the gaming policy itself:
“We will age-restrict an additional small subset of video game content featuring realistic human characters that focuses on scenes of torture or scenes of mass violence against non-combatants. We’ll consider several factors when reviewing this type of content.”
You can see why that might actually be a good idea, as that’s exactly the content you want being “accidentally found” by younger viewers, and to be clear, most of what GTA 6 is likely to have isn’t meant to be seen by younger audiences.
The reason that this may be a big deal is that there are plenty of content creators who are foaming at the mouth to get into the “more realistic” version of Vice City and see what they can do in it, for better and for worse…for the NPCs… They love posting videos to their channels, and this can be a big moneymaker for them. However, if it gets age-restricted and demonetized because of them breaking policy rules, that could end up being a huge blow to them, and if they do it enough times, they could, theoretically, lose their channel eventually.
Now, yes, the “easy answer” to get around this is just making content that won’t break the policy, but as many on YouTube will note, you have to have “eye-catching content” to get views, and sometimes, that means doing violent things in video games. It’s a very thin tightrope you have to walk, and many have fallen off one side or the other as a result.
If the Rockstar Editor returns, it’s possible that there will be ways to “tone things down” so that the videos won’t appear “as violent,” but only time will tell.
