In an interview with Rockstar North’s co-studio head, he explains what the team learned from Red Dead Redemption 2 when making GTA 6. While this might sound as if they’d wandered into the wrong franchise at first, it’s exactly the approach that MeinMMO editor Caro has been hoping for for quite some time.
What should GTA 6 take from Red Dead Redemption 2? In an interview with the French magazine TroisCouleurs, Rob Nelson, co-studio head of Rockstar North, discusses an important aspect that GTA 6 wants to adopt from RDR2: Its protagonist Arthur Morgan, who is one of the most beloved video game characters of all time, should serve as a kind of role model for Jason and Lucia in GTA 6. At least in terms of emotional depth.
We wanted to take the depth that we were able to add into the world of Red Dead Redemption 2 and the ability to interact with the world in a much more significant way, but then also this sort of emotional connection that people end up having with Arthur.
Rob Nelson in conversation with TroisCouleurs
GTA 6 aims to create a much stronger emotional connection than its predecessor
How does Rockstar plan to achieve this? As with its predecessor GTA 5, Rockstar wants to continue using multiple protagonists in GTA 6, while still telling a more compelling story than they were able to before.
To achieve this, the team is deliberately focusing on moments that are meant to be particularly intense – not just through the action-packed scenes typical of GTA, but also through moments of calm. This is meant to make them all the more impactful. As Nelson explains in reference to a scene that can also be seen in the behind-the-scenes footage on Netflix and YouTube: “When you see [Lucia] being pushed down the stairs and then the camera cuts to [Jason] and you can no longer hear her, it creates a sense of concern.”
But it’s not just the brief moments of calm in action scenes that satisfy the team. Instead, they also place great value on moments that are actually quite “mundane”—but for good reason:
Playing with these ideas and these quieter moments [like the one in the apartment where Jason and Lucia get ready for Brian’s meeting] – in my opinion, many people can identify with that. Everyone has relationships and knows what it’s like, and knows what it’s like to wait for someone to get ready and to wonder: “Should I address them at the door and urge them to hurry, or not?” These are all thoughts that came to our minds as we thought about it. You don’t just slip into their role in the action-packed crime moments but also in the quieter moments.
Rob Nelson in conversation with TroisCouleurs
GTA 6 chooses just the right approach
This is what MeinMMO editor Caro says about it: I’m really excited about this approach to making the protagonists in GTA 6 more human and building a sense of connection alongside the humor, action, and all the other GTA-esque moments.
I already talked about it in a previous article, that while I like GTA 5, I wasn’t a big fan of the protagonists, or rather of their relationships with each other.
They tended to merely tolerate one another rather than build a closer bond, and when they did express affection, it was mostly through insults and jokes. They were a solid trio for GTA 5 in terms of the story, but after a character like Arthur Morgan – who has truly won the hearts of so many gamers – it’s clear: Rockstar can offer more than just characters to laugh at or who just want to trash-talk each other.
I’m curious to see how this plan – from theory and development to actual gameplay – will feel once we get to know Lucia and Jason’s story better.
What do you think of this approach? Are you looking forward to it as well? Or is emotional depth in a game of the GTA series rather unimportant to you? You can find out more about Jason and Lucia and what can be learned from their inspiration about the story of GTA 6 here: Everyone knows that GTA 6 is inspired by Bonnie & Clyde, but only a few understand what that really means for the protagonists
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!