When the latest installment in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise – “Grand Theft Auto VI” – launches on Nov. 19, the U.S. is expected to lose $1 billion in productivity, according to one expert.
José Montalvo, professor of economics at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, said young men between 18 and 30 years old are expected to actually call off work to play the new game, according to a report from Spanish outlet Cadena SER. He expects that the technology sector will be most impacted, as many tech employees work from home.
The Wall Street Journal also reported in August, when the trailer for “Grand Theft Auto VI” came out, that its release could lead to a work blackout. At least one man cited by the outlet said he would be taking time off work to play the new game.
“The last installment in the series, “Grand Theft Auto V”, had gamers ditching their desks too when it first dropped in 2013,” said the New York Post in an article this week. According to that article, some companies are even including time off for the game around the Thanksgiving holiday (Nov. 26).
It’s been around 30 years since the first Grand Theft Auto video game debuted, and the franchise has become one of the most well-known in gaming. Rockstar Games makes the games, along with other titles like the “Red Dead” franchise. As the title suggests, Grand Theft Auto gameplay includes stealing cars, driving them and completing tasks.
“In terms of popular culture, I think it’s one of the few franchises that practically everyone knows, beyond an older audience. Among kids, young people, teenagers – who doesn’t know GTA?” said Jaume Esteve, coordinator of the master’s program in Communication and Video Games at the Complutense University of Madrid, as cited by Cadena SER.
Since the mid- to late-2000s, video games overall “can explain around half of the increase in leisure time among young people and up to 1.5 to 2% of the drop in working hours,” per the Cadena SRN report. “That 2% increase may seem small, but in an economy like the United States, with 170 million people of working age, a third of whom are young, 2% is very significant.”
However, video games aren’t the only cultural phenomenon that’s drawn workers away from their desks in the U.S. Cadena SRN noted that when the final installment of the Harry Potter saga premiered here in 2011, 5% of U.S. employees were absent from work that day.
While Montalvo mentioned concerns about productivity linked to people taking time off to play video games, its possible that Americans also deserve a bit of a break. According to WalletHub, research shows that Americans work 25% more hours than their counterparts in Europe, and overwork can sometimes water down productivity.
