After a series of delays, Grand Theft Auto VI is expected to release later this year and be one of the biggest launches in video game history. And the hype is already spilling into the real world: One U.S. Army unit in Fort Stewart, Georgia is offering active-duty soldiers a four-day pass to play the game as an incentive to reenlist, according to a memorandum that spread around social media.
“The idea was to have a unique incentive program that connects to what soldiers are interested in,” Lt. Col. Angel Tomko, spokesperson for the 3rd Infantry Division, said in a statement to Fortune.
The incentive was offered exclusively to the Division’s 9th Brigade Engineering Battalion, and 20 soldiers have already chosen it as part of a minimum two-year reenlistment commitment, which can extend for up to six years.
While enlistment incentives are nothing new, tying one to a video game is an unusual acknowledgment of just how much anticipation has built around GTA VI. Millions of Gen Z and Millennial fans expected to dive into the game’s fictional “Vice City” world, which launches in November.
GTA VI is expected to bring in billions—and one company is already giving a day off for the ‘unprecedented cultural event’
