We Got X Before GTA 6

About

We Got X Before GTA 6, also known as We Got X Before GTA VI, is a phrasal template meme that was popularized in 2023, primarily through comments on platforms such as Reddit and TikTok. The meme plays on the lengthy rollout of the highly anticipated video game Grand Theft Auto 6 from Rockstar Games, with the last game in the series having been released in 2013. Jokes following the template, "No way we got X before GTA 6" typically point to a significant world event, technological advancement or unlikely event that occurred before the release of the game.

Origin

Rockstar Games created the video game series Grand Theft Auto and released GTA V in September 2013. The next game in the series saw a delayed rollout, with fans of GTA expressing their enthusiasm for the next installment of the game long before it was announced.

In the early 2020s, rumors about GTA 6 reached a fever pitch, with jokes following the phrasal template "We got X before GTA 6" being traced to sporadic comments and posts on sites like Twitter^[1][2] and Reddit^[3] before 2023 (examples seen below).

However, the earliest notable memes following the phrasal template first began to appear in the summer of 2023, soon after David Gusch's testimony about aliens in front of the House Oversight Committee in July 2023.^[4]

Spread

On July 27th, 2023, TikToker^[5] @jadendunn made a video joking about how "We got aliens before GTA 6," gathering over 260,000 plays and 36,000 likes in a year (seen below, left). The joke was repeated by Facebook^[6] user Memeception on the same day. On August 3rd, 2023, TikToker^[7] @piepop977 posted a video joking about how we have found a cure for cancer before GTA 6, gathering over 900,000 plays and 190,000 likes in eight months (seen below, right).

On November 20th, 2023, X^[8] user @kirawontmiss quoted a video of a dog writing, "we really got to see a drunk dog before gta 6," gathering over 90,000 likes in five months (seen below).

we really got to see a drunk dog before gta 6 https://t.co/fgYbSOVejX

— kira 👾 (@kirawontmiss) November 20, 2023

On December 10th, 2023, Redditor /u/post-death_Wave_Core posted an ironic "We Got X Before GTA 6" meme to /r/okbuddyretard,^[9] signaling an oversaturation of the meme by that time. The post gathered over 300 upvotes in four months (seen below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References