Azernews.Az

by Alimat Aliyeva

A U.S. Army infantry division at Fort Stewart in Georgia is offering soldiers an unusual incentive: four days of leave to play Grand Theft Auto VI if they agree to extend their military contracts for at least two years.

According to reports, service members can qualify for the special leave if they extend their contracts between August 1 and November 14. The initiative is designed to encourage soldiers to remain in the Army and help the division meet its recruitment and retention targets for fiscal year 2027.

Lieutenant Colonel Angel Tomko said that 20 out of 130 service members in the engineering battalion had already extended their contracts. She explained that the idea came from a career counselor who approached the division’s leadership with a proposal for a more creative incentive program.

The unusual offer has attracted attention because GTA VI is one of the most highly anticipated video games in the world. Rockstar Games has announced that the game will be set in the fictional state of Leonida, inspired by Florida, and will return players to the iconic Vice City.

The decision also shows how seriously organizations are taking the cultural impact of major video game releases. While four days of leave may sound like a joke, the Army has increasingly experimented with creative incentives to improve retention and make military service more attractive to younger generations.

For some soldiers, apparently, the chance to spend a long weekend in Vice City may be just as motivating as a traditional bonus.