Recently, the creator of the Dan Allen Gaming YouTube channel spoke with actor Jason Zumwalt, whom many players know for his role as Roman Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV. He criticized the approach to compensation in the gaming industry.
During the conversation, Dan Allen Gaming brought up GTA VI. He asked Jason how the actors who took part in the game might feel, seeing as their lives are about to change.
Jason recalled a clip from a livestream by actress Manni L. Perez—widely believed to play Lucia in GTA VI. At one point, she stated that she was “not a millionaire” and shared that she still does her own grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, and drives a used sedan:
“What she said back then... I felt that she had some anxiety, but at the same time, I felt a lot of strength in her. And I was really impressed by how casually she said, ‘Yeah, dude, listen, I’m not rich, I’m not a millionaire, I’m still dealing with all this crap.’”
Jason Zumwalt pointed out that actors do not receive residual payments (royalties) for video games. The film industry takes a different approach to compensation—he still receives checks for movies that “nobody watched”:
“It’s totally not like the movie industry. I did two D+ and C− movies, and I still get royalties on them. Nobody watched them, and I’m still getting residual checks for them. But this game was seen all over the world—and I got nothing.”
The release of the new installment in the franchise, Grand Theft Auto VI, is scheduled for November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles.