Elon Musk’s December 2023 explanation for avoiding the Grand Theft Auto series was about GTA V, not GTA 6: he said he disliked “doing crime” and couldn’t bring himself to shoot police in the earlier game’s opening scene. The comment drew ridicule, though some people thought he might have been joking.
What Musk said about Grand Theft Auto
On December 5, 2023, after discussion around the GTA VI trailer, an X user posted a list of Grand Theft Auto games they had not played. Musk replied that he had tried the series but disliked doing crime. He singled out GTA V’s opening police encounter as the reason he stopped, writing: “Tried, but didn’t like doing crime. GTA5 required shooting police officers in the opening scene. Just couldn’t do it.” SlashGear reproduced the post the following day.
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So, although the exchange surfaced in the wake of the GTA VI trailer, Musk was describing his reaction to GTA V. The reporting does not establish that he had played GTA VI.
Why the post drew ridicule
Replies mocked the seriousness of Musk’s stated objection, with some pointing out that the events in a video game are fictional. One joke asked whether he also followed traffic laws while playing. Uproxx and The Independent described the reaction; The Independent also reported that a few people defended the remark as possibly a joke. The responses were therefore not unanimous, even as the post became a target for jokes.
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Does GTA V make the player shoot police in that scene?
Not necessarily. Musk described shooting police as required, but SlashGear’s account says the scene can be completed without the player firing at them: CPU-controlled teammates can take out most of the officers, and the player can use non-lethal melee to knock out one remaining officer. That is a reported alternative for the encounter, not evidence about how Musk played it or why he stopped.
The distinction helps explain the online reaction: his post framed shooting police as an unavoidable requirement, while the reported gameplay route offers a way through the encounter without shooting them yourself.
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