GTA 6's NPC System Almost Never Happened, Thanks to Red Dead 2

Ever wonder how GTA 6's NPCs might feel so alive? You can thank a Red Dead Redemption 2 system that almost didn't see the light of day. According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, who visited Rockstar to see GTA 6, the advanced NPC interaction tech we loved in Red Dead 2 was nearly kept under wraps.

Here's the deal: Rockstar's vice president of animation, Mark Tennant, came up with a prototype way back in 2014 or 2015. Instead of just pressing a button to aim your gun at an NPC, you could use the same button to greet or antagonize them. Simple to explain, but complex to execute. When Tennant showed it to another technical lead, Phil Hooker, Hooker didn't want the system shown to Rockstar North boss Rob Nelson at first. Why? Because Nelson is known as the guy who "wants to do the world"—even if it means a ton of extra work for the team.

Despite the concern, Nelson eventually saw the prototype and was blown away. "This is incredible," he reportedly said. "This will revolutionize the way our games and our worlds work." And amusingly, Hooker was proven right about the workload—implementing the system was a lot of work. But was it worth it? Absolutely. Red Dead Redemption 2's NPC interactions are beloved, and now we're getting an evolved version in GTA 6.

We first got a hint of this during a GTA 6 leak, but Rockstar's latest media rounds have fleshed out the details. Nelson confirmed to IGN: "The NPC interaction system is one that is returning and evolved from Red Dead Redemption 2." He explained that past games like RDR1 and GTA 5 had basic interaction systems, but Red Dead 2 finally let them create a more fleshed-out system. Traditionally, L2 was a binary action—aim or lock on. But as resolution increased, experiences had to evolve.

So what does this mean for GTA 6? Nelson teases that NPCs will react to you in various ways. For example, people might gather and chatter, and their behavior will influence how they feel about you eavesdropping. Some might be inquisitive; others won't appreciate it at all. "While we pushed this sort of interaction with NPCs as far as we could for Red Dead Redemption 2, with GTA 6 we are taking it much further," Nelson says.

To think, we might not have gotten any of this if someone at Rockstar had been put off by the extra work. And as a bonus, did you know not even Rockstar heads know everything in GTA 6 because devs just add stuff? That's also how Red Dead 2 got its absurd horse testicle physics. Crazy, right?

What do you think about GTA 6's evolved NPC system? Will you be greeting or antagonizing everyone you meet? Let us know in the comments!