There is no shortage of rumors, speculation, and leaks within the video game industry. However, some comments made by people take a little more credence than others. While not a direct statement about what we can expect when it comes to Grand Theft Auto VI, a former developer did mention what they think could be possible in theory for this upcoming game. That should entice players to pick up the game and see if Rockstar Games could deliver.
Ben Hinchliffe is a former Rockstar Games developer who has made quite a few headlines recently. This former developer, now attached to the development studio Just Add Water, has recently spoken with IGN. During the conversation, it looks like Rockstar Games might be aiming for a far more immersive experience with its NPCs compared to what we saw with Grand Theft Auto V. This stems back to a comment by Ben, who noted their time working on Red Dead Redemption 2.
During the development cycle of this game, Ben recalled how the studio’s higher-ups wanted developers to push for a more lived-in world. That meant NPCs needed to feel authentic. Of course, according to Ben, you were dealing with small towns and less population density. As a result, there was a drive to allow players to feel they were more involved in the world or make them think twice if they started attacking random characters.
A key part of this was that you were dealing with less population within the game world. Still, that doesn’t mean this level of immersion and interactive NPCs are not entirely off the table.
From a theoretical standpoint, and what you might be able to do if you had the budget and the team size, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t have that [Red Dead Redemption 2] level of NPC interaction in a much larger scale game. – Ben Hinchliffe
As Ben noted, while this is just a theory and not a direct statement of their knowledge, Rockstar could deliver a similar level of NPCs interactive in Grand Theft Auto VI. Unfortunately, we’ll be left in the dark longer as we have yet to see another trailer drop for this title. Instead, Rockstar Games only released the initial announcement trailer in December last year. While we approach the trailer anniversary date, perhaps we’ll also be approaching new marketing materials being released for the masses.
