Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled to launch on November 19 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and the latest details about it come from a preview rather than from the game itself. PC Gamer, summarising Edge's cover story by Simon Parkin, reports that GTA 6's NPCs carry about 600,000 animations, over ten times as many unique animations as GTA 5.

That figure is attributed to the Edge piece and relayed by PC Gamer. The game has not launched, and nothing about how these systems behave in a finished build is confirmed.

A team for every pedestrian

According to PC Gamer's account of the preview, a dedicated team is art-directing every single NPC. The outlet also reports that the sheer number of NPCs was a factor in GTA 6's delay, and that the workload was alarming enough inside the studio that an entire team of writers and producers had to be assembled to handle it.

The NPCs also get personality traits. Per the summary, those traits take demographic and professional variables into account, so a character's background feeds into how they behave. The preview describes the effect by district: in Parkin's words, "Different districts have their own demographic and professional textures."

What the preview describes

PC Gamer quotes the preview as saying the old GTA pedestrian, a prop that panics when the player draws a gun, has splintered into a wide range of possible reactions. In one scene from the piece, a character named Nelson spots an arrest taking place on the opposite side of the road. PC Gamer's read is that the game looks complicated enough to be worth people-watching in its own right.

The same summary mentions a Criminal Profile system and a shattered state for players who stop caring about consequences. PC Gamer describes the system as sounding interesting. The summary does not detail how the system works.

Where GTA 6 stands

The verified release date is November 19, with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X as the platforms. PC Gamer notes the outlet is still waiting to hear about a PC launch date.

The NPC details come second-hand: Edge produced the feature, GamesRadar hosts it, and PC Gamer summarises it. Reader reaction is not part of that reporting, and none of the claims above have been checked against the shipped game.