My first encounter with a “Grand Theft Auto” game was way back in 1999 with “GTA 2” at, of all places, my pastor’s house. The church patriarch would often host the youth group at his home, which meant taking turns on the first-gen PlayStation, but we were cackling a little too loudly as we carjacked vehicles and used them to run over cops. The adults, hearing our incessant laughter, came into the room, instantly became horrified and confiscated the game. To this day, I have no idea how the pastor’s son obtained a copy of this crime spree simulator, but I still find it hilarious.
I would never have imagined, nearly three decades later, that the Grand Theft Auto series would become the cultural juggernaut it is today. While “Grand Theft Auto V,” released in 2013, cost a record-breaking $265 million to make, its upcoming sequel “Grand Theft Auto VI” is sure to exceed any video game budget in history. It has cost an estimated $1 to $2 billion to develop so far, though verified figures aren’t readily available. This sort of project makes Hollywood look small. The most expensive movie ever created, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” was just $533 million.
