GTA 6 Shows ‘What the American Dream Looks Like Now’ in a Game Without Background Characters

From what we’ve seen so far about Grand Theft Auto 6, it looks like one of the biggest open-world games in history. When developers have to create such sprawling virtual environments, there’s a risk of them feeling empty or repetitive, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with GTA 6. In a recent interview with Love Magazine, whose bits and screenshots have been shared by fans online, Rockstar revealed interesting details about the effort behind creating such a realistic world, with many stories and highly detailed characters. It also shared more about Lucia and Jason’s hopes and dreams of fulfilling their American dream.

GTA 6 is a game without background

Rockstar is known for paying attention to details that are easy to overlook. That was evident in Red Dead Redemption 2, where the world felt truly alive, and it will be even more so in Grand Theft Auto 6. According to the interview with Love Magazine, Rockstar sent teams to various parts of Florida to study not only the locations and environments, but also its people and culture. This will be reflected in NPCs’ conversations, clothing, and hairstyles.

Players will be able to spend hours observing these NPCs and still find new details and conversations to overhear. NPCs are meant to go beyond background characters that players can just run over without a second thought; they actually have a life of their own, and gamers can get to know them simply by listening to what they have to say. “In a world this dense, no one you meet is an extra,” says the Instagram caption of the post advertising the new issue of the magazine.

“In a way, there’s no ‘background’ in this game,” writing director James Horton said in the Love interview. “There’s just foreground you’re not paying attention to right now.”

With so much attention being put into NPCs’ lives, hurting them might feel different from previous games, and that is why it is up to players to decide how Jason reacts to his own crimes and the situations happening around him. Rather than being a pair of tough, experienced criminals, he and Lucia are still new to the world of bank heists and drug deals. They must be careful navigating it so they don’t fly too close to the sun and get burned because of their inexperience.

Jason is shaping up to be a very relatable character that players can connect with, especially considering that they significantly influence who he becomes. However, this will change Jason’s reputation, and others will react differently to him, whether positively or negatively.

GTA 6 will still be about the American Dream

Image: Rockstar Games

While you might not see short-lived internet trends and obsessions like Labubus or brainrot, as they’d easily make the game feel dated, Grand Theft Auto 6 has found other ways to capture the current zeitgeist. Rockstar confirms that GTA 6 is still very much about chasing the American dream, but in this day and age.

“Some would say the American Dream collapsed a long time ago,” Robert Humphries, senior vice president of narrative, said in the Love interview. “Maybe the American Dream is more modest now. It’s a house for your family and your loans paid off instead of wild success — but maybe today, that is just as out of reach for the average person.”

When ordering Love Magazine issue 27, fans can choose from several cover variants. As expected, the Love Magazine with the cover art featuring Jason and Lucia quickly sold out. Nevertheless, the contents are the same regardless of the cover, and the issue will be out on Oct. 5.