Imagine your partner spending hours flirting with someone else, trying to hold their hand and taking them on dates. Most people would have questions. But what if that someone only exists inside a video game?
The latest instalment in Rockstar's blockbuster Grand Theft Auto franchise is set to be the biggest entertainment launch of the year when it is released next month. Judging by previews, the connection between its two main characters is a central feature. Rockstar has hinted that the Bonnie and Clyde-type protagonists Jason and Lucia do not have to become a full-on romantic couple.
But their relationship can grow by spending time together outside of the main crime and life-on-the-run storyline – through shopping, visiting bars and restaurants and working out together. Smaller interactions like holding hands and quickly responding to each other's texts can help build a bond. The idea has restarted a debate almost as old as gaming itself: if you are that invested in a fictional relationship, is your real-life partner entitled to be upset?
In September, polling company YouGov put that question to more than 4,000 British adults. About 6% said they would regard it as cheating, while a further 19% said they would "not be okay with it". Women were considerably more likely than men to take a dim view.
Alli Franco, a 30-year-old Texan who posts anime and gaming content to more than a million followers, external on TikTok, says she felt "dismayed" watching the debate unfold online. "If your partner is insecure about a fictional character, then there needs to be some serious reflection," she told the BBC. "It's similar to having a crush on a TV star, but even further removed from cheating since there is no other actual person involved.” After Franco posted a video on the subject, hundreds of commenters appeared to agree with her, although some did have reservations.
"To be honest, it depends," wrote one. "If you're cancelling plans with your significant other or directing your intimacy towards a fictional character, then that is a little odd." For decades, video games have allowed players to build relationships with non-player characters, or NPCs. Gamers could marry villagers in Harvest Moon in 1996, shape emotional storylines in Final Fantasy VII and pursue more complex romances in role-playing games like Baldur's Gate II.
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