Rockstar Games might have gained a reputation for making realistic games, but the devs behind GTA 6 sometimes have to “forego realism” for the sake of the player experience, says Rob Nelson, co-studio head of Rockstar North.
In a new interview with Love magazine, Nelson discusses GTA 6’s balance between realism and immersion, noting that Rockstar’s goal is the latter and that realism doesn’t always help achieve it.
“Sometimes you need things to feel realistic to help with that sense of immersion, and conversely, sometimes you need to forego realism in favor of what will be most convenient for the player – realism can help greatly with immersion, but too much can feel tedious, so we try to find the right balance,” he explains.
“Sometimes drawing an amusing or poignant parallel to some aspect of the real world is helpful in supporting the experience, and sometimes it’s better to ignore or omit certain aspects of reality because they just don’t make sense with the experience we are trying to create,” he continues. “Everything we do is done to support the sense of being immersed in a world, connecting to its characters and the narrative we are weaving through it.”
The irony of this statement is that GTA 6 is introducing a refueling system that’s already proving controversial since – you guessed it – fans are worried it’ll feel tedious. Nelson previously suggested that the refueling quick-time event is so quick that “you can’t complain,” but even so, he noted that “we’ll see what people say.”
After all, Rockstar already removed a mechanic from GTA 6 that would have seen you buying groceries and restocking Jason and Lucia’s fridge, but “because this would have complicated the mechanics, we had to simplify it,” Nelson explained at the time. He then reiterated: “We are always trying to find the right balance between realism and ease of play.”