Ever since that 27-minute presentation aired on Netflix at the end of August, GTA 6 has been whipping up a frenzy — and then some. Rockstar Games used the slot to unveil plenty of gameplay, but also to let several outlets and content creators dig into the game in greater depth. Eleven previews have been published in all, revealing an impressive amount of information about the next Grand Theft Auto. And while we wait to dive into Vice City and the various regions of Leonida ourselves, here's what to take away from those first impressions.
Lucia, love and rock'n'roll
Where GTA 5 let us switch between three alpha males, GTA 6 puts us in control of a couple — a man and a woman: Jason and Lucia. At this level of fame, they hardly need introducing. One of GTA 6's headline new features is of course the relationship between the two lovebirds, which can evolve over the course of the adventure without ever becoming mandatory to progress through the story. Players will be able to have them spend time together, send them shopping, take them to the beach or simply out for a stroll. Chilling, basically. You'll even be able to spontaneously suggest an activity to the other character, without having to go through a dedicated mission. An in-game indicator will let you track how their relationship is developing.
This mechanic will have concrete consequences, too. Spending time together unlocks certain bonuses, such as Lucia coming to Jason's aid in certain situations. And vice versa. Rockstar Games has made clear, however, that there's no jealousy or break-up mechanic, meaning Jason and Lucia will remain partners come what may, even if the player decides not to develop their romance. Another interesting detail: both characters can change physically depending on what they eat and how much exercise they get. Just like back in the GTA San Andreas days.
A new criminal profile
GTA 6 is also placing more emphasis on how the player behaves out in the open world. The folks at Rockstar Games have developed a new system called the "criminal profile", which in some ways recalls the honour system from Red Dead Redemption 2. In-game, several profiles will be available, such as "Professional", "Aggressive", "Violent" and "Psychopath". The way Jason and Lucia carry out their crimes will influence their respective profiles. A heist pulled off cleanly, avoiding unnecessary casualties and favouring stealth, will keep a more professional profile intact. Far more violent behaviour, on the other hand, will push the character in another direction. Worth noting: Jason and Lucia can end up with different profiles, with potential consequences for certain story events.
Safe houses will also play a bigger role in GTA 6, as Rockstar has again drawn inspiration from Red Dead Redemption 2 and the way its camps worked, with characters following their own schedules in a far more interactive environment. As we saw in the Netflix video, you'll be able to open doors, flick switches and interact with a great many of the objects inside your lodgings. The fridge, for one, can hold various foods and drinks with effects on your character. You'll also be able to cut your hair or shave in certain safe houses, although more elaborate makeovers will still require a trip to Vice City's shops.
Very open world
It's obviously one of the aspects given plenty of airtime in the various previews: Vice City will be roughly twice the size of GTA 5's Los Santos, while the Leonida region as a whole will be larger still. For comparison, the map will be around three times the size of Red Dead Redemption 2's, with a huge number of areas to explore and shops to visit, plus buildings and locations that won't even always be marked on the map. Some hotels can be explored from top to bottom, with lifts taking you up to the floors and the roof with no loading times whatsoever. A zoo and a sizeable military base are also among the places to discover. We've also learned that the open world won't be as compartmentalised as before. Missions and activities will be more interconnected, while traffic and pedestrians will shift according to the time of day.
NPCs more alive than ever
Something else doing the rounds in the previews: Rockstar Games has put an entire team on creating and managing GTA 6's NPCs. Yes, a whole team of around 50 people doing nothing else — building distinct NPCs, each with their own behaviour, each one feeling natural. Mad. Their behaviour will be far more believable, with reactions that shift depending on the situation. Pulling a weapon on someone, for instance, won't always get the same response. A passer-by might back away, panic, call the police, or square up to you instead. The other big break from previous Rockstar Games titles is that GTA 6's NPCs come in different body types and heights, with animations tailored to their build. Rockstar has recorded roughly 600,000 animations, against about 300,000 for Red Dead Redemption 2 and 55,000 for GTA 5. Mad.
The little details will be everywhere too: footprints in the sand, objects reacting to collisions, dog leads wrapping around Jason's arm, and animals you can observe and log in a proper bestiary. And as is so often the way with Rockstar, some of the random encounters promise to be gloriously unlikely — one preview reported running into a completely naked man asking for help in the middle of traffic.
Grand Theft Automobile
Car theft in GTA 6 has had a serious overhaul as well. Not every vehicle will be equally easy to get into, and some models will need specific tools to be stolen. High-end motors may come with complex electronic systems or tracking devices. Thankfully, an app on Jason and Lucia's phone will let you pull up information on vehicles and what they might be worth.
Robberies have been fleshed out considerably too: shops can be hit at will, and there'll be several tiers of heist, from corner stores to far bigger operations. During a two-hander, the AI-controlled character won't just stand about waiting. Lucia might hold the staff and customers at gunpoint while Jason ransacks the back room. You'll then need to track down fences to shift the stolen goods, with different middlemen specialising in different types of loot.
Replay value
As for the law, the famous star system is back, with six wanted levels this time, but Rockstar Games is mainly out to make pursuits far more believable. The police can now gather all sorts of details about a suspect: their face, their clothes, their vehicle, their weapon, whether they had an accomplice, and even CCTV footage. Witnesses can also clock certain details and pass them on to the police. Best to change your outfit or swap cars, then, to throw them off the scent and bring that star meter down. On that note, the wanted system will also lean more heavily on dynamic search zones. The police won't necessarily know exactly where you are, and will have to track you down using whatever information they've got.
Among the new arrivals in GTA 6, we hear that Rockstar Games also wants to give players more freedom within the main missions. Certain choices can change how the story unfolds, with multiple branches and different approaches available. The game has in fact been built to be played through more than once, with some decisions carrying heavier consequences than others and altering the course of the narrative. The chapter structure, already used in Red Dead Redemption 2, is back as well, while the unofficial running time being bandied about is somewhere around 80 hours for the main story. Throw in the side content and a push for 100%, and you know full well you can multiply that by three or four, easy.
Driving closer to GTA 4
Another notable change, and one that'll delight Niko Bellic devotees: driving in GTA 6 has been completely rethought and should feel weightier and more realistic than in GTA 5. Rockstar is essentially after a middle ground between the feel of GTA 4 and the accessibility of GTA 5, with far sharper differences between vehicles. Damage will also tell on your motor much more, meaning a knackered tyre can genuinely make life difficult and send you spinning. You'll need to remember to fill up at petrol stations too, and you'll be able to buy garages to store vehicles. There's a nitro system for giving your car a shove as well, plus Burnout-style camera angles for the nastiest crashes.
GTA 6 has also overhauled how weapons work, with more realistic sensations, far more recoil and far more impact when you use them. Assault rifles, for instance, will demand better control over the bursts you let fly. Otherwise, the inventory returns as a selection wheel, already present in GTA 5, but handled in a way closer to Red Dead 2. Elsewhere, to match the realistic feel of the situations, Jason and Lucia will be able to carry several handguns as well as heavier weapons, but the available arsenal will be deliberately limited. You'll have to choose what you want to keep on you, and vehicle boots will act as extra storage. Another notable and interesting change: it will be possible to neutralise certain enemies without necessarily killing them, notably by aiming at their hands or their weapons.
A world that's even more connected and interactive
Jason and Lucia's phone will no longer be just an interface element as it was in GTA 5, since Rockstar has decided to turn it into a genuine gameplay tool, built into and connected to the world you move through. Our two characters will be able to use social media, watch livestreams, order things from online shopping sites, or get in touch with their friends and other contacts. Several apps have already been revealed, including BuckMe for banking, RydeMe, a parody of Uber, WhatUp, which acts as an instant messenger, and Waink, the app that lets you scan vehicles. In game, the smartphone will be visible in the character's hands and not merely as a HUD element.
GTA 6 also intends to revolutionise how you interact with the characters in its open world, with countless small possibilities that give the impression of moving through a coherent, organic world (you love that word, I know). It will be possible, for example, to take the bus or the train by validating your ticket, to stash bags in your vehicle, to do your shopping, to feed dogs, or to interact with an impressive number of objects out in the open world. Even rubbish can be thrown in the bin, and it will have an influence on your criminal profile. Rockstar Games is such a go-all-the-way studio that you'll even be able to pick up dog mess and lob it at NPCs. Genuinely.
A technical monster
Finally, you should know that Rockstar has devoted 13 years of development to GTA 6, with some of the work beginning as early as GTA 5's release. We've learned that the teams have doubled in size since Red Dead Redemption 2, simply to be able to handle the density of the open world, the sheer number of animations to produce and the quantity of detail needed to make Vice City utterly believable and alive. Rockstar's aim is to bring together the best of GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 in a single game — keeping the accessibility and pace of the former while taking on the level of detail and immersion of the latter.
Speaking of technical performance, the Scottish studio also wants to considerably improve how elements load in at a distance. A vehicle spotted far off should still be the same one when the player gets closer, so you never notice the graphical changes being calculated by the game's engine. There will be no first-person view at GTA 6's launch, however, as Rockstar Games wants to focus on a third-person experience for now. It'll no doubt turn up in an update later down the line. Several years later, most likely.
So now we wait until 19 November 2026, the release date of GTA 6 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, to take this almighty slap to the face. We can't wait here at screenactu.
