GTA 6 Is Borrowing Some Of Red Dead Redemption 2’s Best Features

TL;DR

• Grand Theft Auto VI is borrowing several major gameplay systems from Red Dead Redemption 2.
• The game will use a chapter-based story structure rather than moving seamlessly between missions like GTA V.
• A new Criminal Profile system appears to expand on Red Dead Redemption 2‘s Honor mechanic.
• Dead Eye-style slow-motion aiming is returning, complete with the ability to target specific areas of an enemy’s body.
• Players can disarm enemies, study animals, interact with pets and use highly interactive safehouses.
• Fences return as a way to sell stolen property and can also provide information about potential criminal opportunities.
• The overall result looks like a combination of GTA V‘s fast-paced chaos and Red Dead Redemption 2‘s slower, more immersive world simulation.

Rockstar Games has finally given players their most substantial look yet at Grand Theft Auto VI, and one thing is becoming increasingly obvious.

This isn’t simply GTA V with better graphics and a bigger version of Vice City.

Rockstar appears to have spent the eight years since Red Dead Redemption 2 studying which parts of that game’s extraordinarily detailed open world could be adapted to a modern crime story.

The result looks like something sitting somewhere between the two franchises.

GTA VI still has the cars, police chases, robberies, ridiculous characters and chaos players expect from Grand Theft Auto, but underneath all of that is a much more methodical set of systems that should feel immediately familiar to anyone who spent hundreds of hours living as Arthur Morgan.

Rockstar’s new Extended Look and subsequent developer previews have revealed everything from an Honor-inspired Criminal Profile to Dead Eye-style gunplay, interactive safehouses and the ability to study wildlife.

Here are some of the biggest Red Dead Redemption 2 ideas making their way into GTA VI.

GTA 6 Is Using A Chapter-Based Story

One of the most significant similarities isn’t actually a gameplay mechanic.

It’s how Rockstar is organizing the story.

GTA V generally flowed from one mission to another as Michael, Franklin and Trevor’s stories gradually collided.

Red Dead Redemption 2 divided Arthur Morgan’s journey into clearly defined chapters, with each section representing a new stage in the Van der Linde gang’s increasingly desperate attempt to survive.

GTA VI appears to be taking the latter approach.

Rockstar’s descriptions surrounding Jason and Lucia’s campaign reference story content and rewards being distributed across different chapters.

That could allow the game to give each stage of their relationship and criminal career its own distinct identity.

It also fits what Rockstar has revealed about the story so far.

Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos begin as small-time criminals who become caught inside a much larger conspiracy stretching across Leonida. A chapter structure could let Rockstar gradually change their circumstances, safehouses, allies and even locations as they climb deeper into the state’s criminal world.

The Honor System Has Become A Criminal Profile

The most obvious Red Dead Redemption 2 influence may be GTA VI‘s new Criminal Profile.

Arthur Morgan’s Honor rating changed depending on how players behaved.

Help strangers, spare people and generally behave like a decent outlaw and Arthur’s Honor increased.

Murder innocent people, rob everyone in sight and behave like a complete psychopath and the meter moved in the opposite direction.

GTA VI is taking that basic concept and adapting it to a world where the protagonists are already professional criminals.

Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson has explained that the system isn’t simply judging whether Jason and Lucia are “good” or “bad.”

Instead, it appears interested in what kind of criminals they become.

If players repeatedly go beyond what is necessary during robberies or consistently engage in unnecessary violence, their Criminal Profile can begin shifting.

That sounds substantially more interesting than a simple morality meter.

Your Criminal Profile Could Actually Change How The World Treats You

The real question is how far Rockstar takes the system.

Red Dead Redemption 2‘s Honor affected dialogue, store discounts, story moments and even parts of Arthur’s ending.

A Criminal Profile could potentially become much more complicated.

Will certain criminals refuse to work with Jason or Lucia if they’ve developed a reputation for unnecessary violence?

Could police respond differently depending on their history?

Might some missions become available—or unavailable—based on how players conduct themselves?

Rockstar hasn’t explained every consequence yet, but previews suggest the system is intended to create longer-term reactions rather than simply changing an icon on the HUD.

Even small actions apparently matter.

Players can do everyday positive things such as feeding stray animals or putting trash into a garbage can, providing another very Red Dead-like layer of environmental interaction.

Dead Eye Is Basically Coming To GTA

This might be the feature most Red Dead players immediately recognize.

Jason can use a slow-motion aiming mechanic that functions remarkably like Dead Eye.

Activating it slows time during combat and depletes a dedicated meter.

More importantly, it allows the player to identify specific areas of an enemy’s body.

The Extended Look showed targets including the head, heart, hands and knees.

That suggests Rockstar isn’t simply adding slow motion because it looks cool.

It is tied directly into a more detailed combat system.

You Don’t Always Have To Kill Everyone

Targeting specific body parts creates another important change.

Enemies can be neutralized without necessarily being killed.

Just as Arthur could shoot weapons out of people’s hands in Red Dead Redemption 2, Jason and Lucia can reportedly disarm enemies during gunfights.

Shooting someone’s arm can knock their weapon away.

Aiming for a leg or knee can bring them down without immediately killing them.

That suddenly makes the Criminal Profile much more meaningful.

If the game gives you the ability to resolve a robbery without murdering everyone inside, then excessive violence becomes an actual player decision rather than something the mission design forces upon you.

That would represent a significant evolution from older Grand Theft Auto games, where many missions essentially amounted to eliminating every hostile NPC before moving to the next objective.

Slow-Motion Kill Cameras Are Returning

Of course, Rockstar isn’t suddenly turning Grand Theft Auto into a pacifist simulator.

When things do get violent, the game can celebrate particularly dramatic kills with slow-motion camera sequences.

Red Dead Redemption 2 occasionally zoomed in during important or stylish kills, giving firefights the visual flair of a western film.

GTA VI appears to use a similar system.

The difference is obvious.

Instead of revolvers and dusty frontier towns, players will be seeing those cinematic moments during modern shootouts across Vice City and the wider state of Leonida.

Fences Have Returned — But They’re More Useful Now

The Fence was one of Red Dead Redemption 2‘s most useful criminal businesses.

Arthur could bring stolen valuables and other questionable merchandise there rather than attempting to sell them through legitimate stores.

The same concept returns in GTA VI.

Stolen goods—including jewelry and vehicles—can reportedly be sold through Fences.

But they aren’t simply shops.

Fences can also act as sources of criminal intelligence.

One example mentioned in previews involves a Fence providing information about vehicles sitting in police impound lots that could potentially be stolen.

That could transform them into another source of emergent activities rather than a menu players visit only when their inventory fills up.

Safehouses Are Becoming GTA’s Version Of Camps

One of Red Dead Redemption 2‘s greatest strengths had very little to do with shooting.

It was the camp.

Arthur could return after hours exploring the world and find gang members arguing, singing, drinking, playing games or having conversations that might never repeat again.

The camp felt like a place where people actually lived.

Rockstar wants GTA VI‘s safehouses to capture some of that same feeling.

Nelson has specifically compared their level of interaction and sense of home to the camps from Red Dead Redemption 2.

That’s a potentially enormous improvement.

Safehouses in previous GTA games often functioned primarily as places to save, change clothes or access a garage.

If Jason and Lucia’s homes become locations where their relationship develops, characters visit and story events happen naturally, those spaces could become much more important.

Jason And Lucia’s Relationship Could Benefit From That Approach

This is where the Red Dead influence might have its biggest storytelling impact.

Rockstar has made it clear that Jason and Lucia’s relationship is at the center of GTA VI.

They’re criminals, partners and lovers who eventually find themselves forced to depend on each other after a score goes wrong.

Giving players quieter spaces where those characters can interact outside traditional missions could make that relationship feel considerably more believable.

Arthur Morgan became such a memorable protagonist partly because players spent dozens of hours seeing him exist outside shootouts.

He drank coffee.

He talked to friends.

He wrote in his journal.

He listened to arguments around camp.

Applying some of that patience to Jason and Lucia could give Rockstar the emotional foundation it needs to make their relationship matter when the story inevitably starts falling apart.

Yes, You Can Pet The Dogs

Rockstar knows exactly what people want.

You can pet animals in GTA VI.

Or scold them.

The interaction wasn’t available in GTA V in the same broader fashion but became one of the countless small environmental details players loved in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Interestingly, how players treat animals may also contribute to their Criminal Profile.

So apparently being cruel to a random Vice City dog might actually say something about Jason or Lucia.

Fair enough.

You Can Study Wildlife Just Like Red Dead Redemption 2

GTA VI‘s enormous map isn’t only filled with human NPCs.

The state of Leonida includes an extensive wildlife ecosystem, and players can apparently study animals they encounter.

Previews indicate that wildlife discovered either in the wilderness or even places such as the zoo can be studied and added to a checklist.

That is almost directly lifted from Red Dead Redemption 2, where Arthur could observe animals to expand his compendium.

In a western, that feature made obvious sense.

Seeing something similar inside a Grand Theft Auto game says a lot about how detailed Rockstar intends Leonida to be.

Players aren’t simply driving between mission markers.

Rockstar wants them paying attention to the world around those missions.

Even Checking Your Phone Is More Like Red Dead Redemption 2

One of the smaller details may be one of the most effective.

Instead of throwing a large smartphone interface over the game’s HUD whenever Jason or Lucia uses their phone, GTA VI reportedly brings the device physically into view.

The camera moves closer and allows players to inspect it in first person.

That resembles how Arthur Morgan physically examined maps, photographs and journal pages in Red Dead Redemption 2.

It’s a small design choice, but it helps objects feel like things characters actually possess rather than menus floating above the game world.

NPC Interactions Are Being Expanded Too

The similarities go deeper than the features highlighted in the Extended Look.

Rockstar has also confirmed that the NPC interaction systems pioneered in Red Dead Redemption 2 are returning in an evolved form.

Arthur could greet, antagonize and react to strangers almost anywhere in the world.

Those interactions helped make towns feel less like collections of scripted background characters.

Rockstar North says GTA VI takes that concept considerably further.

Jason and Lucia will be able to interact with people throughout Leonida, while NPCs themselves can react dynamically to what the player is doing.

That matters much more in Vice City than it did in the sparsely populated American frontier.

A densely packed modern city requires thousands of characters to convincingly react to the chaos happening around them.

This Doesn’t Mean GTA 6 Is Becoming Red Dead Redemption 3

There is still an important distinction.

Red Dead Redemption 2 was intentionally methodical.

Arthur walked slowly through camp.

He cleaned his weapons.

He brushed his horse.

He cooked food over fires.

Even looting someone’s body required a physical animation.

That deliberate pace was central to the game’s identity.

Grand Theft Auto works differently.

Players expect to steal a sports car, drive 130 mph through traffic, launch it off something incredibly irresponsible, steal another vehicle and be halfway across the city before the police understand what happened.

Rockstar doesn’t need to replace that chaos.

It appears to be adding Red Dead Redemption 2‘s immersion underneath it.

GTA 6 Could Be The Best Of Both Rockstar Worlds

That may ultimately be the most exciting thing revealed about Grand Theft Auto VI.

Rockstar doesn’t appear interested in choosing between its two biggest modern games.

GTA V demonstrated how entertaining a massive open world can be when nearly everything encourages chaos.

Red Dead Redemption 2 demonstrated how believable one can feel when nearly everything encourages observation.

GTA VI looks like an attempt to combine those ideas.

You can still rob cars.

You can still get into enormous shootouts.

You can still create the kind of ridiculous police chase that has defined Grand Theft Auto for decades.

But now you may also have to think about what kind of criminal you’re becoming.

You can return home and interact with the people around you.

You can decide whether an enemy needs to die or simply needs to drop their gun.

You can study animals.

You can build a reputation.

You can pet the dog.

And somewhere between all of those systems, Rockstar may have found the next evolution of its open-world formula.

Grand Theft Auto VI launches November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.