Anybody mildly informed about video games will tell you that the screenshot shown above is from Rockstar Games’ infamous Grand Theft Auto series, specifically the fifth and most recent entry. Meanwhile, anybody mildly informed about the latest tech can tell you that the car pictured is one of Google’s in-house self-driving car prototypes. These are, in essence, polar opposites. Grand Theft Auto, since the very first game hit the original Sony PlayStation so long ago, has been a violent and destructive sandbox playground with a story, great gameplay, and fun missions attached to give the player something to aim for or to occupy them between bouts of playing around with the game’s limits and causing mayhem. Google’s self-driving car, on the other hand, is a paragon of order, having been involved in only one possible at-fault accident in all the years and over 1.5 million miles it’s been tested. So… what exactly is one of those doing in a Grand Theft Auto game? Why, committing acts of destruction, of course!
As with just about any game on the PC, modders have really done a great job at expanding the world of Grand Theft Auto V. From bringing in famous video game and movie characters to giving us cars that fly better than most planes, modders’ accomplishments simply cannot be overstated when it comes to this already-massive game. One modder, in particular, decided that Rockstar’s world of rocket-powered chaos was ripe for Google’s touch, in the form of their self-driving car prototype. This would be all well and good if it weren’t for the fact that, as can be seen in the video below, it goes completely and utterly haywire. This may or may not be the default behavior for the car, but YouTuber pizzaforbreakfast decided to make it so.
Naturally, the chances of seeing a self-driving car do this sort of thing in real life are pretty much zero. All of the companies working on the fledgling technology, including Google, are prioritizing safety and smarts to ensure their self-driving vehicles never cause a crash, let alone veer off into a sidewalk. As with any vehicle with or without a player in it, of course, if you happen to see a self-driving car in GTA V, take caution and possibly shelter.