Grand Theft Auto 6should be a survival game. Rockstar has already made some incredible survival games, likeRed Dead Redemption 2and San Andreas. Wait, hang on, let me explain.
Rockstar knows what gives a game the right level of immersion, simulating the aspects of life in a way that they’re not a detriment to you, but still something to keep in mind and manage in an engaging way.
Other games make use of subtle survival mechanics too, where you won’t necessarily have health depleted to zero if you don’t eat, but not taking care of yourself properly will put you at an increasingly significant disadvantage, and that’s exactly what Grand Theft Auto in 2025 needs; to be a survival game.
You might ask how Red Dead Redemption 2 is a survival game. Well, I’m glad you did. These key elements: hunger, temperature, sleep, crafting, base management, and one dirty boy who needs a bath every so often. He even needs a haircut every now and then, if you want to get really specific.
The majority of Red Dead Redemption 2’s survival elements are veiled under the ‘Cores’ mechanic. Both Arthur and his horse have a Health Core and a Stamina Core, and Arthur has an additional Deadeye Core.
The outer rings of these cores are the health or stamina bar, while the internal icon is the core strength. The lower it is filled, the weaker the core will be, and the weaker the core is, the weaker the overall stat will be.
A weak core means that it will be more easily depleted and vulnerable, and it won’t regenerate as fast as a full core.
Food, drink, tonics, cigarettes, alcohol - all sorts of things will affect your cores in different ways, refilling them or potentially damaging others. To keep your health and stamina at their strongest, you’ll want to keep some food handy and some tonics on you at all times, as you’ll need to keep topped up to reduce the risk of a stray bullet spelling your end. But then you want to consume it all in increments - too much food and Arthur will gain weight, too little and he will be malnourished.
Temperature also has an effect on these cores. Cold and hot environments will both have a negative effect, so you should always be appropriately dressed for the occasion. Wear a big coat in the mountains, but make sure you take it off in the humid bayou. Again, it’s subtle but important.
Sleep also plays a role, but it’s not a stat or something the game really tells you to do. The longer Arthur goes without sleep, the dizzier he will get, and the faster his stamina will decrease.
Aside from the cores and these more typical survival elements, there are a few things that play into general gameplay, upkeep, and what sort of experience you have in the game - one of which being crafting. You can easily go an entire playthrough without touching it, but if you want to, you can make all sorts of things for hunting, combat, maintenance, or maybe a couple of exploding arrows. Just for fun.
Finally, base management. At the base camp, donating funds is half of the fight; you can also purchase upgrades for the camp, which will add extra services, provisions, and change the appearance of the camp over time.
These mechanics should be implemented into Grand Theft Auto 6. I knowthere were a lot of fans who found RDR2 quite tediouscompared to GTA, butI firmly believe that this is where Rockstar’s mastery - and great storytelling in general - lies.
As part of this approach, GTA 6 should include temperature - perhaps more focused on weather conditions - and the need for food and drink to keep healthy. It’s proven that it can be done, and it’s proven that it works, so it would be a shame for Rockstar to remove these elements from the equation entirely.
I’d also love to see the return of RDR2’s hair growth mechanic, alongside San Andreas’ gyms and restaurants. In hindsight, GTA 5 was missing a lot of in-depth mechanics that Rockstar had used before, and newer mechanics that were later used in Red Dead 2. While the 2018 prequel is easily one of the most detailed games ever, I can only hope - and even dare to expect - that we will see these things return in Rockstar’s biggest, most detailed world yet.
And if not, why not? I don’t believe there’s a valid reason not to include survival features when they’re implemented in an immersive, subtle, and rarely detrimental way.
