The Kortz Center Heist art collection nods to Albert and Archie Crisp from Grand Theft Auto: London 1969, the first 2D Universe character crossover into the HD Universe.
The Crisp Twins was just referenced in the latest Grand Theft Auto Online update, the Kortz Center Heist, the first time that an actual person from the older Grand Theft Auto games becomes referenced in Grand Theft Auto V, or the HD Universe, for that matter. One of the high-value art collection added by Rockstar Games appear to nod at Albert and Archie Crisp, the villains of Grand Theft Auto: London 1969.
If you just went "the villains of what?", that is completely fair. Most GTA fans probably weren't even born when the game was first released.
GTA: London is an expansion of arguably the most obscure corner of the entire franchise, the first GTA. A huge share of the modern GTA audience has not only never played them, they do not know they exist, and as far as anyone can tell, no prominent named character from the 2D Universe had ever made a clear, direct crossover into an HD game before this. While Rockstar does callbacks all the time, it's almost always from the 3D Universe into the HD one. Characters like OG Loc, Madd Dogg, Lazlow, Candy Suxxx have all resurfaced in Grand Theft Auto IV or GTA V as posters, mentions or reworked versions.
The Three GTA Universes, Explained
| Universe | Games | Era |
|---|---|---|
2D Universe | GTA 1, GTA London 1969 and 1961, GTA 2 | The original top-down games |
3D Universe | GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas and more | The PS2 era |
HD Universe | GTA IV, GTA V, GTA Online, GTA 6 | The modern games |
How Rockstar divides the Grand Theft Auto series into three separate continuities, and where GTA 6 fits.
Interestingly enough, the Crisp Twins have a Vice City connection. In the original game/expansion, Albert Crisp sent the player character across the Atlantic to Vice City to do a job for the twins. There is even a line in the official game manual where Albert grumbles about Vice City directly, telling the protagonist those "Yanks" are not worth much and to show some respect because they are in London now.
So of all the obscure characters Rockstar could have resurfaced, it picked two whose original story already has a thread running to the setting of Grand Theft Auto 6.
Knowing Rockstar, this isn't just some random lore pull. They thought of this if only to reward the tiny number of people who know that the HD Universe has a faint, decades-old link back to a top-down London game most players have never touched. Just for added context, Albert and Archie are cockney gangster brothers, one loud and scheming, one completely silent and quietly terrifying, and they are directly based on the real-life Kray twins who ran organised crime in 1960s London. Tying them, however faintly, to an art collection in a modern Vice City is a neat little joke for anyone who remembers them.
Just how deep this goes though isn't something we won't find out until November 19 if it ever goes deeper.
Of course, it's worth noting that this is merely a nod until otherwise confirmed. It doesn't mean that the Crisp Twins will jump across the the pond and find their way into GTA 6, nor does it mean that their story is canon, or that the 2D Universe games are being pulled into the HD Universe, or that any of this connects to Jason and Lucia in any meaningful way. The most likely reality is this is just a piece of background art, a mentioned name attached to an art collection, a thing you could play the entire game and never notice.
Still, as far cries into the franchise's own attic go, this is a lovely one. Most studios forget their obscure late-90s spin-offs ever happened. Rockstar apparently keeps them close enough to slip into the biggest game it has ever made.