Army unit offers 4-days off to play Grand Theft Auto VI as reenlistment incentive

A U.S. Army unit in Georgia is offering soldiers a four-day pass to play Grand Theft Auto VI when it drops this fall, as an incentive to reenlist.

Twenty soldiers at Fort Stewart in the 9th Brigade Engineering Battalion, part of the 3rd Infantry Division, have already taken the deal, an Army spokesperson said. Roughly 130 are eligible. Anyone signing a reenlistment contract between Aug. 1 and Nov. 14 gets the pass, timed to the game's Nov. 19 release, with a commitment of two to six years.

"The idea was to have a unique incentives program that connects to what Soldiers are interested in," said Lt. Col. Angel Tomko of the 3rd Infantry Division, adding that commanders wanted to get soldiers excited about reenlisting.

The offer is limited to the one battalion for now, though it could expand. It joins the Army's usual menu of tuition, duty-station picks and specialty training like airborne and air assault school.

Courting gamers is nothing new for the service. After missing its recruiting target in 2018 for the first time in over a decade, the Army launched an esports team and sent recruiters to gaming conventions.