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The man who engineered the Grand Theft Auto controversy

"He designed all the outcry, which pretty much guaranteed MPs would get involved." - Mike Dailly, co-creator of the original GTA, on how publicist Max Clifford manipulated the press to gain GTA its notoriety.

Mike Rose, Blogger

October 22, 2012

1 Min Read

"He designed all the outcry, which pretty much guaranteed MPs would get involved... He'd do anything to keep the profile high."

- Mike Dailly, co-creator of the original Grand Theft Auto, reveals how infamous British publicist Max Clifford (pictured) manipulated the press to gain GTA its notoriety and, in turn, publicity. "Max Clifford made it all happen," he told The Sunday Times, as reported by GI.biz. "He told us how he would play it, who he would target, what those people targeted would say." David Jones, the other mind behind the 1997 release that sparked one of the most popular video game franchises of all time, added of Clifford, "every word he said came true". "We knew why every decision was made, and we were never, ever influenced by 'let's do something to create a bit of controversy,'" he continued. "We always did everything from the perspective of what's going to be the most fun. It just naturally kept pushing us down the darker direction."

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