Bigfoot Spotted in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas?

I love video games. And although I have never played “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,” I did play (and loved) another game by Rockstar called “Red Dead Redemption.” It was a game I loved, and one I loved even more once they released the expansion pack “Undead Nightmare,” which mainly featured zombies, but also Bigfoot. How could I resist the chance to hunt for Sasquatch, even if it was in video game form only? Then I heard about reports of actual missions in Assassin’s Creed III featuring ghosts, UFOs, and once again, Bigfoot. While those missions left a little something to be desired by a paranormal enthusiast like myself, I do still appreciate how the paranormal and cryptids are making it into video games. So imagine my surprise stumbling upon this little item about Bigfoot perhaps existing in “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.” Or is it just a myth?

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was released nearly nine years ago, but the debate about one of the myths surrounding it — whether Bigfoot exists in the game — continues even today, according to The New Yorker.

Of course, Bigfoot is one of the world’s most enduring real-life myths, a legend that takes different forms in numerous cultures around the globe. With the release of San Andreas in 2004, the ancient discussion on Bigfoot was reborn, spurred by players who uploaded clips to YouTube containing supposed sightings of the creature in the game’s desolate Back o Beyond region.

“I was in Back o Beyond, walking up a hill. It was foggy out, but behind some plants I clearly saw a giant black figure,” said Kaleb Krimmel, a teenage San Andreas player, in an interview with The New Yorker. “I aimed my camera to take a picture, but by the time I steadied the viewfinder it was gone.”

Online communities still keep up the hunt for Bigfoot today, even though Rockstar Games representatives dismissed the creature’s existence in San Andreas as a myth long ago — “there is no Bigfoot, just like in real life,” said Rockstar CEO Terry Donovan.

Check out the full story on the persistent Bigfoot debate at The New Yorker.

Just like in real life, it’s hard to tell what is real and what’s just a clever video hoax. Is Bigfoot in the game? Are gamers just making it up, or mistaking a video game moose or bear for Sasquatch? Or did maybe a mischievous game designer slip Bigfoot in there without the powers that be knowing about it? Maybe he’ll make an appearance in the upcoming “Grand Theft Auto V?” Just like his real world counterpart, we may never know if the video game Bigfoot actually exists or not…