The Grand Theft Auto games franchise is notorious for rewarding players for having sex with prostitutes and then killing them. In early GTA games, this encounter was experienced by the player from a 3rd person perspective and included the irony and satire that characterized the franchise. The latest GTA game, GTA 5, differs from earlier versions in that players can play from a 1st person perspective, a feature that transforms encounters with prostitutes in the game. Rather than allowing players to enjoy breaking taboos as the earlier games did, these encounters in GTA 5 cause players to express arousal, disgust and even empathy. This paper analyzes published videos of expert gameplay, author dialog in the videos, and comments posted by viewers. These demonstrate that by shrinking the distance between the player and the prostitute, Rockstar Games has created a game environment which elicits very different responses than earlier versions of the game. This analysis suggests that increasingly realistic and immersive media could positively influence participants by eliciting empathy.
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