GTA 6 Online needs anonymity

Imagine an online open world where any NPC could potentially be another player

Rockstar Games

One of the best things about Rockstar’s games is their dynamic and lively open worlds. I’m currently replaying Red Dead Redemption 2 for, like, the fourth time and there are still discoveries I’m stumbling across, from random encounters with NPCs to the little details in their daily routines. I’m also making Arthur bald. That’s where I am in my life. 

I’m still completely in awe at this game, which somehow looks better and feels more alive than anything released on the current console generation. You can watch an NPC get drunk in Valentine’s bar, follow them as they stumble out of it, urinate in an alley, and shuffle off to bed wherever they live. In the morning they might eat before heading off to a day’s work. The illusion doesn’t shatter the longer you stare at it – it becomes more reinforced. 

This level of detail even extends to the wildlife. There’s a full ecosystem in Red Dead Redemption 2 – scavengers pick at carcasses and predators hunt prey. When you turn up on horseback with a rifle slung over your shoulder, it feels like you’re disrupting a fine-tuned mechanism. But Rockstar’s worlds can handle your meddling – they’re built for it. 

Rockstar Games

Rockstar’s online modes somehow support all of this, too. The NPC count might drop, but there’s no toning down on their routines or the soft body physics that sees them stumble around when shoved, intoxicated, or attacked by a player. But there’s one change Rockstar could make that would make its online offerings feel even more dynamic and alive: anonymity. 

How much more tense would it be to explore GTA 6’s Vice City Online when any pedestrian you pass could potentially be another player? Instead of players careening through the air on jet-powered bikes or pulling off strafing runs in jets, this change would encourage people to slow down to blend in. Loud players can still be belligerent but they’d be making themselves a target for any assassin hiding among the masses. 

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This would make the world feel more alive online and give players the tools they need to roleplay. Rockstar recently hired the teams behind GTA Online’s roleplay servers, which allowed players to be anything from a police officer to a taxi driver. Allowing players to blend in would create the perfect environment for this more thoughtful play – and imagine how surprised taxi driver players would be when a police chase suddenly disrupts their fare. 

There could even be a layer of investigative metagame to this. Imagine a scenario where players have to put their ill-gotten gains into side businesses or stash houses. Players would be able to blend in as civilians and stealthily stake these out to find their targets and pull off heists against other players. 

If Rockstar really wanted to be hardcore with it, prison sentences and hospital visits could knock you out of a specific server for a while, adding a real risk to illicit activities. Of course, as any good GTA NPC knows, you could always just cross the street at the wrong time… 

Rockstar Games

To facilitate this social stealth aspect, Rockstar could create a series of emotes that mimic NPC behavior. Sunbathing, eating, reading – there are endless verbs that can be used for both gameplay and roleplay. 

Of course, there are challenges and risks with implementing this. How do you report toxic players when everyone’s anonymous? I’m sure Rockstar could figure something out – these devs know what they’re doing. And that’s the thing, too – this is just a pie-in-the-sky wishlist feature for me, and whatever Rockstar does, I’m sure the next iteration of GTA Online will be something special. I just want to be bald, spy on people, and rob loud players.