GTA 6's Level of Detail Is Exceptional: Rockstar Built a Full Scripted System Just for Sweating

Rockstar Games is known for its attention to detail, as earlier Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption games raised the bar for realism. However, GTA 6 appears to go beyond any video game before it with a proprietary system that determines how much characters sweat.

Of course, Rockstar Games is known for its attention to detail, as previous games Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption push the bar for realism. However, GTA 6 seems to go beyond any previous video game with a proprietary system that determines how much characters sweat.

In a new video posted on the making of GTA 6 article, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier said that Rockstar told him about a text system in the game that makes the dual characters Jason and Lucia — or, it seems, any character in the game — sweat differently depending on how much effort they put in.

So, for example, in a night club, if Lucia tries hard to dance, she will sweat more. Likewise, the harder Jason works out, the more he sweats. We may have already seen GTA 6's sweat system in action. In Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look, released in August, we briefly see Lucia dancing in a nightclub, and there's a distinct sheen to her skin that suggests she's sweaty. Or maybe it's a trick of the light.

This shows the incredible amount of detail in GTA 6 - above and beyond any video game ever made - but also explains why GTA 6 took so long to develop (eight years in terms of proper development work), and why it cost so much to make (no more than $1.5 billion, but arguably the most expensive video game of all time).

In fact, as a Bloomberg article points out, Rockstar set up a new studio in Los Angeles, full of writers, producers and directors, just to make NPCs.

GTA 6 has faced numerous delays, each of which has been publicly explained as part of Rockstar's mission to achieve video game perfection with the game. When you hear about the sweat that went into it, you get a sense of what the game itself will actually look like when it's released.

In pictures: How Jason and Lucia have evolved in GTA 6 since 2023

With GTA 6 coming out next month, we've got plenty more for you to dive into, including our in-depth interview with Rockstar North's Rob Nelson in full, our report on what looks to be the end of Cyberleek, and some unusual marketing Rockstar has created.

Wesley is the managing editor of IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Wesley can be reached at @wesley_yinpoole or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.