With GTA 6 release due this November, even government agencies are joining the conversation. Australia’s Fair Work Ombudsman has shared a lighthearted graphic aimed at workers who might want to skip work to play on launch day.
The graphic imagines a scenario where the game arrives tomorrow, and a worker has no paid leave left. It then asks whether unpaid leave is an option. The Ombudsman explains that the National Employment Standards give Australians a right to unpaid leave only under specific circumstances.
Those circumstances include caring for someone, helping during an emergency and having a child. None of them plausibly cover an open-world video game, though the artwork plays along. One image shows a hospital scene where a copy of the game replaces a patient’s head, and another puts the game on an ultrasound screen.
The practical advice is simpler: ask your employer. A flexible boss might agree to time off, and the two sides can work out an arrangement.
Why the World Is Paying Attention to GTA 6 Release Date?
The joke lands because expectations for the game are enormous. When Game Informer covered it, demand reportedly crashed the publication’s app. Some forecasts suggest GTA 6 could earn $5.2 billion in its first week, and the game reportedly cost around $1.5 billion to develop before marketing.
Rockstar’s research was equally extensive, with the team traveling across Florida alongside gang members and police officers to capture an authentic Miami feel.
Also Read: GTA 6 Collection Lands At Rockstar Store
Marketing Goes Big in Miami
The promotional push is just as ambitious. The lights atop Miami’s Kaseya Center have been lit up in celebration of the game, and the Miami Heat will wear Vice City-themed jerseys as part of the same marketing deal. CBS also released a video examining how accurately the game recreates its setting, bringing in experts to discuss locations from PortMiami and South Beach to Wynwood and the Everglades.
Whether any Australian employer grants a day off remains to be seen, but the Ombudsman’s graphic shows just how far the game’s reach extends.
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