The Granddaddy of all Box Art

Another component for any gamer is the actual game. To get people to buy these games the game cases itself which goes through a long process of design, has to be attractive as well without being offensive. These box art designs as they are called have to be able to reach everyone without driving people away in disgust or anger. It’s a fine line to balance especially if as a game developer a lot of your game has mature content or themes. One of the most controversial game series ever just launched a new title two weeks ago and they sold like hotcakes. Grand Theft Auto 5 published by RockStar games and developed by RockStar North sold over a billion dollar worth of copies or 16 million copies in just 3 days. I guess the box art really worked after all.

One thing you must know about this box art is that RockStar and their graphic designers have used the same template for all the games in the Grand Theft Auto series. You have windows or panels with little snippets of images that represents scenes in the game itself or some function that the game has. One example is the man with the gas mask. In one of the missions you play the character in the gas mask. An example of a function of the game being represented is the dog. You could actually use a dog in the game to attack. The box art might seem just like any other video game box art, but there’s a catch. What I found most interesting is that the game itself is in 3D or computer generated. The box art itself has a hand drawn or painted cartoon quality to them. I love the subtle contradiction that RockStar has chosen. Their game is placed in a 3D universe while the box art is created as a 2D universe.

The title of the game is centered perfectly in the middle in bold white font. The white font contrast with the darker colored background to really make it standout. The number 5 which means the 5th game in the series is designed in roman numerals. This design choice was used from Grand Theft Auto 3 and up. The five in roman numerals also has a banner wrapping around it and it gives off this money or cash vibe. The banner is something that you would see in a bill and the green color is the color that money is usually represented.  In the game itself your actual goal is to earn money using whatever means possible so the design choice for the number 5 was chosen carefully so it would adhere to the goal and story of the game. The relationship between what you see on the box art and what you get to do or see in the game have to coincide or else customer would be asking why is that car on the cover, but I can’t find it in the game. Customer would feel cheated or lied to.

Just like everything else in the game the Box Art was designed beautifully with care and precision.