It is most certainly not a coincidence that Red Dead Redemption 2 is widely considered to be one of the most immersive open-world games out there. It’s also safe to say that its NPCs deserve at least some of the credit for this reputation. They don’t just fill the towns with people to create a false sense of social activity; Rockstar actually gave Arthur plenty of ways to interact with them. Players can not only greet or talk to the NPCs, but they can even rob them. Of course, all of this can affect Arthur’s reputation within the world, but this is a discussion for another day. With GTA 6 now facing the difficult task of following that level of immersion, its pedestrians have some pretty big shoes to fill.
Generally, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a great example of how NPCs should contribute to the environment, and it seems like Grand Theft Auto 6 is ready to maybe even take the approach further. As we all probably know by now, the studio has built an entire writing team around pedestrian dialogue, which suggests that the NPCs players may normally walk past are probably getting an insane amount of attention.
GTA 6 Is Putting a Surprising Amount of Work Into Its Background NPCs
Of course, it’s true that the protagonists and the major supporting characters in Grand Theft Auto 6 will probably receive most of the attention anyway. After all, they are the ones moving the story forward, and since Rockstar introduced several of the people that Jason and Lucia will meet across Leonida, like Cal Hampton and Brian Heder, it seems like the studio’s efforts don’t stop with the characters who are actually important to the main campaign. Ordinary pedestrians are not only getting their own writing team, but they also have a dedicated production team responsible for bringing the perfect conversations into the game.
Without a doubt, this is a huge amount of work, but considering that it has been 13 years since the release of GTA 5, it makes sense why Rockstar is willing to put that much effort even into its least important characters. Especially since that huge gap also means that the studio is returning to a player base whose expectations have risen significantly. Or maybe NPCs are generally more important than it may initially seem. When we think about it, most people don’t really care about who they pass on the street, but their conversations and their behavior are still part of what makes our environment feel social and alive.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently scheduled to release on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
GTA 6’s Pedestrians Could Help Make Every Part of Leonida Feel Different
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A screenshot of an NPC riding in a car at night in Grand Theft Auto 6. Image via Rockstar Games -
A screenshot of an NPC standing up in a truck in Grand Theft Auto 6. Image via Rockstar Games -
Although we still cannot set an exact number, we definitely know that Grand Theft Auto 6‘s world is times bigger than Red Dead Redemption 2‘s map, and it’s most certainly bigger when we compare it to previous maps in the series. For those who don’t know, GTA 6 will introduce the largest open world that the Grand Theft Auto series has ever seen. And since Vice City will not be the only location in the new title, it is important to take into account all the different communities and adjust the way they talk accordingly in order to make it as realistic as possible.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
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It goes without saying that in a place as big as Leonida, it may be difficult to make individual areas feel different from each other, and pedestrian dialogue could be the surprising detail that will play a huge role. That way, no player would be able to look at the NPCs more closely, only to find something that breaks the illusion of being in a real place.
The Best NPCs May Be the Ones Players Barely Notice
Ironically, the best thing that could happen to the pedestrians in Grand Theft Auto 6 is for most players to never even think about them. It’s very similar to editing a book. Most people will never even think about a book’s editor when everything reads perfectly, because this is what good editing is supposed to achieve. However, even one mistake in the middle of an important sentence can make readers suddenly remember that there was an editor who was supposed to fix this mistake but didn’t. Background NPCs have the same unforgiving job. Perfectly executed conversations on the street can disappear into a giant blur, but if an NPC says something weird at the wrong moment, people will most probably criticize it endlessly.
So, it seems like the entire point of putting so much work into NPC dialogue is to immerse you in GTA 6‘s world, no matter whether you’re listening or not. Moreover, building an immersive world often means that the NPCs have to convince players that they actually have a reason to be at the location that they are at. And if the conversation consists of weird phrases that make no sense, then it becomes obvious they are just filler. Although the approach towards NPCs in GTA 6 sounds promising, we’ll have to wait and see whether pedestrians will justify all the effort put into them.
- Released
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November 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Rating Pending – Likely Mature 17+
