2026 should be a big one for video games, but with swirling rumors that Grand Theft Auto 6 could slip from its already delayed release date, we might have to keep ourselves busy for a little longer.
Thankfully, it doesn't look like Grand Theft Auto Online is going anywhere. With 13 years of Shark Cards sales helping push GTA V into becoming the most profitable entertainment product of all time, it makes sense that Rockstar Games wants to milk it for all it's worth.
There are obvious questions about what will happen when GTA 6 eventually rolls around, and whether the OG gets a massive overhaul or we're migrated to some sort of GTA Online 2.0, you can bet there will be a whole new world of adventures to undertake in Vice City.
Rockstar kept gamers on board in 2025, with some praising its "Safehouse in the Hills" update as the best in years. Alongside the return of the fan-favorite Michael De Santa, the update added an AI assistant, pets, and a mission creator.
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Proving why we can't have nice things, the mission creator soon descended into chaos as players quickly recreated real-world horrors like 9/11, mocked the Black Lives Matter movement, and even let you raid P. Diddy's house.
One of last year's biggest news stories was the murder of Charlie Kirk, with the divisive political commentator being shot dead while giving a talk at Utah Valley University. The mission creator had already been used to joke about the "We Are Charlie Kirk" song, but after someone used it to craft a mission where you had to try to assassinate him, Rockstar finally pulled the plug.
As reported on X, Rocktar has added "charliekirk" to GTAO's profanity filter, noting that the use of real-life people goes against the game's terms and conditions.
Others have claimed that you might've gotten away with it if creating a parody like many think Rockstar did with Avon Hertz/Elon Musk. Previously on Reddit, someone said that you’d be able to create a P. Diddy parody if you made a character called Diddly PeePee, but we ask why you'd do it in the first place.
Responding to the Charlie Kirk assassination mission, one angry person replied: "This is absolutely disgusting behavior."
Another added: "This is pretty f*cked up even by GTA standards."
Noting the potential loophole, a third concluded: "So now they will call it Marley Dirk instead."
Others have said that the MAGA movement wouldn't be in uproar if it were mocking the recent murder of Renee Nicole Good, but either way, most agree that making this kind of mission is distasteful.
Some have asked Rockstar to release a keyword blacklist, although we imagine it would just lead to players trying to find a way around the ban as some sort of Streisand Effect.
With expectations that player-made missions will only become more prominent in GTA 6, many see GTAO as a test run where it's best to iron out kinks like this early.
While we're sure GTA 6 will have all the typical parodies of actual celebrities, Rockstar has always kept a clear divide between a bit of fun and mocking real-life events like someone's murder.