I know it sounds far-fetched, but if you indulge me, there is a greater than zero percent chance that it could be true. Let me introduce you to the JoBuilt Trashmaster. According to GTA Wiki, the vehicle manufacturer JoBuilt was introduced to the GTA series in 2008 with Grand Theft Auto IV. A few years earlier, in 2005, I interviewed for a job in Quality Assurance at Rockstar NYC. The interview process had me at their office at least twice, once for a standard interview and then again for a full trial day of work. I got to play a still-in-development build of The Warriors on PlayStation 2 to look for bugs and other issues. These pieces of information may seem inconsequential at first, but when you take into account my real name, Joe Bilt, you may start to see the connection.
By 2005, when I interviewed, the early design and development of Grand Theft Auto IV would have likely been getting started. While unlikely, it’s possible that one of the game’s designers either saw my CV on file or my name on the office’s sign-in sheet. They probably thought nothing of it at the time, but when they needed to come up with a name for a fictional trucking company, my name returned to them. Sure, the JoBuilt name is a play on Peterbilt, the real-world trucking company, but why use the name Joe? There are plenty of other common names they could have used to similar effect. Do you think I might be on to something here, or is this just a coincidence? Unless someone from Rockstar has irrefutable proof to the contrary, I will continue to believe I was the inspiration 😂
And, if you’re curious, no, I didn’t get the job. But if anyone from Rockstar wants to invite me to cameo as a garbage man in GTA6, that would be amazing!