--- title: "Former Rockstar Dev Expects GTA 6 to Borrow Heavily From Red Dead Redemption 2" canonical_url: "https://www.gtaboom.com/a-former-rockstar-dev-expects-gta-6-to-borrow-heavily-from-red-dead-redemption-2-1482" markdown_url: "https://www.gtaboom.com/a-former-rockstar-dev-expects-gta-6-to-borrow-heavily-from-red-dead-redemption-2-1482.md" site_name: "GTA BOOM" site_url: "https://www.gtaboom.com" published_at: "2026-04-04T22:02:27Z" updated_at: "2026-04-09T07:13:42Z" section: "news" language: "en-US" primary_category_slug: "gta-news-053f" category_slugs: - "gta-news-053f" - "gta-6-news-7d1f" - "grand-theft-auto-6-588b" - "rockstar-games-9c2b" tags: - "GTA 6" - "Rockstar Games" - "Take-Two Interactive" authors: - name: "Ray Ampoloquio" url: "https://www.gtaboom.com/authors/ray-ampoloquio" hero: url: "https://media.gtaboom.com/variants/1919/media/images/f1/d8/a-former-rockstar-dev-expects-gta-6-to-borrow-heavily-from-red-dead-redemption-2-4.jpg" alt: "A former Rockstar dev says he would be surprised if GTA 6 does not borrow mechanics from Red Dead Redemption 2." width: 1919 height: 1080 caption: "A former Rockstar dev says he would be surprised if GTA 6 does not borrow mechanics from Red Dead Redemption 2." word_count: 1182 reading_time_minutes: 6 --- > [!INFO] TL;DR Summary Former Rockstar audio designer Rob Carr expects GTA 6 to carry over major ideas from Red Dead Redemption 2. The strongest candidates are deeper world simulation, richer NPC interactions, and modernized versions of systems like journals, bonding, and camp-style progression. Rob Carr keeps talking, and he keeps saying things worth listening to. The former [Rockstar Games](/rockstar-games-f280 "Rockstar Games") audio designer, who worked on [_Grand Theft Auto V_](/grand-theft-auto-v-f2c5 "Grand Theft Auto V"), _L.A. Noire_, _Red Dead Redemption_, and _Red Dead Redemption 2_, has given one of the most insightful interviews in recent memory on the KiwiTalkz YouTube channel. We have already covered his comments on Rockstar's ["go nuts" scale-down philosophy](/former-rockstar-dev-reveals-development-philosophy-behind-the-success-of-gta-games-e995 "Rockstar's Scale-Down Development Philosophy") and his belief that the [RAGE engine was likely rebuilt from scratch](/former-gta-5-dev-reveals-why-gta-6-took-so-long-c160 "Former Dev Says RAGE Engine Was Rebuilt") for [_Grand Theft Auto 6_](/grand-theft-auto-vi-a428 "Grand Theft Auto VI"). Now, in the same conversation, Carr made another prediction on how _GTA 6_ will borrow heavily from _Red Dead Redemption 2_, which makes a lot of sense. ![NPC routines, dynamic interactions, environmental storytelling, and world simulation. Everything RDR2 pioneered could appear in GTA 6, adapted for modern-day Vice City.](https://media.gtaboom.com/media/images/24/cd/a-former-rockstar-dev-expects-gta-6-to-borrow-heavily-from-red-dead-redemption-2-5.jpg) Rockstar does not build its games in isolation. Each new title inherits ideas, systems, and mechanics from the studio's previous work, often in ways that are not immediately obvious because the setting has changed so dramatically. A Western and a crime game set in the modern-day Miami-inspired [Vice City](/vice-city-a30a "Vice City") might seem like they have nothing in common. Carr explained this with a concrete example. _GTA V_ borrowed the Dead Eye system from the original _Red Dead Redemption_. In the _Red Dead_ games, Dead Eye is a slow-motion targeting mechanic that lets you mark multiple enemies and execute them in a single burst. When Rockstar built _GTA V_, they adapted it into three distinct special abilities for the game's three protagonists. [Michael](/michael-de-santa-1e19 "Michael De Santa") got a slow-motion shooting mode that functioned like Dead Eye, [Franklin](/franklin-clinton-2d6e "Franklin Clinton") got a slow-motion driving mode that let him navigate traffic at high speed, and [Trevor](/trevor-philips-6672 "Trevor Philips") got a berserker mode that reduced incoming damage and increased outgoing damage. All three abilities were variations on the same underlying principle of giving players the ability to temporarily slow or alter the flow of gameplay to give the player an advantage, but Rockstar had tailored each to the character's personality and gameplay role. ![We've already seen signs GTA 6 improving on previous systems, including those from older titles.](https://media.gtaboom.com/media/images/f9/5a/a-former-rockstar-dev-expects-gta-6-to-borrow-heavily-from-red-dead-redemption-2-1.jpg) He did not specify which _RDR2_ systems he expects to see adapted in [Leonida](/leonida-9f0e "Leonida"), but we have a couple of ideas in mind. The most obvious candidate is the world simulation. _RDR2_ built a living ecosystem where NPCs had daily routines, wildlife behaved dynamically, weather affected gameplay, and the passage of time felt tangible. Towns came alive at dawn and quieted at night, with shopkeepers opening and closing, strangers you helped or antagonized remembering you, and the world felt like it existed independently of you, and that you were just as much a part of it as everyone else was. Applying that same philosophy to a modern city, where pedestrians commute, traffic patterns change with time of day, [neighborhoods](/gta-6-locations-5163 "GTA 6 Locations") feel distinct depending on the time of day, and [your reputation precedes you](/gta-6-characters-d04f "GTA 6 Characters"), would make _GTA 6_ feel the most alive that a [_Grand Theft Auto_](/grand-theft-auto-8695 "Grand Theft Auto") game will ever have. The NPC interaction system is another strong candidate. In _RDR2_, you could approach almost any character in the world and choose to greet them, antagonize them, or simply observe them. _GTA V_ had nothing comparable. [Its NPCs](/gta-vs-npcs-get-movement-overhaul-mod-ccba "GTA V NPC Movement Overhaul Mod") were reactive in a basic sense, running from gunfire, calling the police, and occasionally shouting at you, but they were not conversational. Then there are the smaller systems that added layers of texture and immersion to _RDR2_ and could translate to _GTA 6_ in transformed ways. Arthur Morgan's journal, which recorded his observations and sketches as the story progressed, could become an in-game social media feed or phone gallery in a modern setting. The horse bonding system, where your relationship with your horse improves over time and affects performance, could translate to vehicle customization and familiarity, where a car you have driven consistently handles better than one you just stole. The camp system, where the Dutch Van Der Linde gang had a home base that evolved and deteriorated as the story progressed, could translate to a safehouse or crew headquarters that reflects the player's progress and choices. The environmental storytelling is perhaps the most important inheritance. _RDR2's_ world was dense with stories that nobody told you to find. Abandoned homesteads with journals that explained what happened with environmental details that rewarded observation rather than waypoint-chasing. ![This is why Rockstar's games always build on what came before.](https://media.gtaboom.com/media/images/c1/71/a-former-rockstar-dev-expects-gta-6-to-borrow-heavily-from-red-dead-redemption-2-2.jpg) _RDR2_ pushed world simulation and NPC behavior further than any game had before and _GTA 6_ will continue what started when [_Grand Theft Auto III_](/grand-theft-auto-iii-9fa6 "Grand Theft Auto III") established the open-world crime genre in the earliy 2000s with [_Grand Theft Auto: Vice City_](/grand-theft-auto-vice-city-c200 "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City") adding personality and atmospehere, and finally, [_Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas_](/grand-theft-auto-san-andreas-1e8c "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas") building on this with its scope and RPG elements and [_Grand Theft Auto IV_](/grand-theft-auto-4-f19e "Grand Theft Auto 4") adding physics and emotional weight. _GTA 6_, launching on [November 19, 2026](/take-two-just-confirmed-gta-6-is-actually-releasing-this-november-39ac "GTA 6 Release Date"), is the first Rockstar game to follow _RDR2_. It is the first game built on what is likely a [rebuilt RAGE engine](/gta-6-might-be-the-last-aaa-game-built-entirely-by-human-hands-e049 "GTA 6 Will Be Built Using Human Hands") with a [$3 billion budget](/gta-6-budget-may-be-higher-than-any-movie-ever-made-9a75 "GTA 6's Reported $3 Billion Budget") and [seven years of development behind it](/Former_Rockstar_Developer_Confirms_GTA_6_Development_Timeline "GTA 6 Development Timeline"). If every previous Rockstar game inherited the best ideas from the game before it, then _GTA 6_ is inheriting from the [most ambitious open-world game ever made](/Take-Two_Believes_that_GTA_6_will_set_a_creative_benchmark "Take-Two CEO Has High Hopes for GTA 6"). Based on this, Carr's prediction is far from outlandish. Instead, it is the natural conclusion of a development philosophy that Rockstar has followed for over two decades. The question now then becomes now whether _GTA 6_ borrows from _RDR2_. The question is how much, and how well those Western-era systems translate to a modern-day [Vice City](/vice-city-a30a "Vice City") that was built to be the most detailed open world Rockstar has ever created. If the answer is "very well," then the seven years since _RDR2_ will have been spent combining everything Rockstar has learned across two franchises into a single product. That is what $3 billion and seven years should buy and what players [will get on November 19](/gta-6-just-got-delayed-again-heres-the-new-release-date-ede4 "Official GTA 6 Release Date"). ## Key questions answered - **Q:** What concrete example backs the idea that Rockstar reuses systems across games? **A:** GTA V already did it with Red Dead Redemption's Dead Eye concept. Rockstar turned that core idea into Michael's slow motion shooting, Franklin's slow motion driving, and Trevor's damage heavy berserker mode. - **Q:** How would RDR2 style systems make GTA 6 different from GTA V? **A:** RDR2-style routines, memory, and social interactions would go well beyond GTA V's simpler NPC reactions like fleeing, calling police, or yelling back. - **Q:** Which RDR2 features look like the strongest candidates to carry over? **A:** The clearest candidates are world simulation and NPC interaction. Other possibilities include a journal style system reworked into a phone gallery or social feed, vehicle familiarity replacing horse bonding, and a safehouse or crew hub filling the role of the camp. - **Q:** Has Rockstar confirmed that any specific RDR2 system is in GTA 6? **A:** Carr did not name exact systems and the modern Vice City setting could change how it adapts RDR2 ideas.