Lucia and Jason’s Relationship in GTA VI Prompts Study on Whether Flirting With a Game Character Counts as Infidelity

In some cases, interacting with video game characters stirs real jealousy in players’ partners.

An extended gameplay presentation for Grand Theft Auto VI showed players the interaction between the two main characters, Lucia and Jason. A recent trailer went further and showed an intimate shower scene. Players will be able to develop romantic relationships in the game, which worries some people because they see it as a partner’s infidelity.

Last month, YouGov asked more than 4,000 British adults whether it is possible to cheat on someone with a video game character. About 6% of respondents said such a relationship would count as cheating, including 4% of men and 7% of women.

Around 13% of men and 24% of women do not consider a relationship with a video game character to be “cheating,” but they would not approve if their partner started building a relationship with a virtual character.

Meanwhile, 62% of men and 46% of women, who also do not consider it “cheating,” would generally be fine with their partner building a relationship with a character in a game.

In the chart YouGov published, men are shown in brown and women in red:

Image source: BBC website; YouGov

Texas-based blogger alli_bugg, who posts content about anime, manga, and more, says that “if your partner feels insecure about a fictional character, they need to do some serious thinking.” In her view, such a relationship with a video game character resembles having a crush on a TV star, but “it’s even further from cheating, since there is no real person involved.”

Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled to release on November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.