About

Grand Theft Auto 4 Intro Loading Screen Parodies refers to a series of video edits and remixes made to resemble the introductory loading screen of the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV using other properties and pop culture references, typically humorous or outlandish in nature. The edits first started appearing in 2010, reaching peak popularity in late 2020 leading into early 2021 on YouTube.

Origin

On April 29th, 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV was released in North America. Like past titles in the Grand Theft Auto series, the game starts with a loading screen featuring still images of various characters from the game over a hip-hop beat (shown below).

On June 21st, 2010, YouTuber^[1] Janni uploaded a video mimicking the style of the loading screen using images from the video game Assassin's Creed, garnering over 14,700 views in 10 years (shown below). This is the earliest parody of the GTA 4 loading screen available on YouTube.

Spread

Over the course of the next 10 years, new GTA 4 intro loading screen parodies occasionally popped up on YouTube, some gaining significant attention. For example, on June 27th, 2014, YouTuber^[2] KiffZiber uploaded a parody of the loading screen using SpongeBob SquarePants imagery, garnering over 222,000 views in roughly seven years (shown below, left). On January 27th, 2015, YouTuber^[3] BlackHawk 72 uploaded a version of the intro using images of Turkish politicians, garnering over 270,000 views in six years (shown below, right).

On February 27th, 2019, YouTuber^[4] 2uncle2dane uploaded a video of the theme song set to Team Fortress 2 imagery, garnering over 1.3 million views in two years (shown below).

The number of parodies on YouTube increased in 2020 leading into 2021, as previous videos continued to gain traction on YouTube and through reposts. On February 28th, 2020, YouTuber^[5] VACUUM34 uploaded another SpongeBob-themed GTA 4 intro, garnering over 469,000 views in a year (shown below, left). On June 13th, YouTuber^[6] Beter Gaming uploaded another version using Turkish imagery, garnering over 188,000 views in eight months (shown below, right).

On February 22nd, 2021, YouTuber^[7] Grandayy uploaded a version of the intro using imagery of famous YouTubers garnering over 513,000 views in three days (shown below). The video was created as an unofficial entry for the 2021 Neverthink Meme Jam, a contest seeking the best Grand Theft Auto-themed meme, of which Grandayy was one of the judges.^[10]

A significant number of new parodies were uploaded to YouTube^[8][9] in the days following Grandayy's upload, many replacing the Grand Theft Auto imagery with other popular meme imagery (examples shown below, left and right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References