Online roleplay in Grand Theft Auto 5 is a phenomenon all on its own. Going beyond text and roles, people execute entire jobs and services, from hitmen to repair shops, mayors and the cops, making the world of Vice City come alive in new, exciting, and hilarious ways. Even beyond this, group servers like the famous Nopixel community elevate it with lore, perpetual stories, and tight-knit shenanigans.
This level of delightfully contagious online tomfoolery draws streamers and players from all backgrounds—including world-famous singer and producer T-Pain. At least, until last year.
During a recent livestream, he was asked by a viewer whether he would return to Nopixel, and said no for a shocking reason: Rockstar told him to avoid community RP (or at least streaming it, likely), as a contingency of being involved in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6.
“They had this whole speech like, what if somebody took your album and re-recorded it and more people were listening to that?” he explained of the talks. “And I was– okay, I kinda get that, but I was having a good time…?”
But then a development left him baffled: Rockstar announced in August that it would be partnering with Cfx.re, which includes FiveM, the hosting service that Nopixel utilizes.
T-Pain was in shock— “I’m like, wait a minute, what?” he recalls with a hearty yet confounded laugh. “Y’all tell me I couldn’t this s**t, then y’all teamed up with the people that make– that enable the RP s**t that happens?”
He seems to be taking it in stride, though. After all, it’s probably many gamers’ dream to be collaborating on what’s already shaping up to be one of the biggest game releases of the decade. Heck, even our own editor-in-chief is probably gearing up for more shenanigans.
