GTA 6 could be years away, but a new patent leaked on Reddit may have teased us with advanced NPCs, as Take-Two Interactive states, "a need exists for an improved system for virtual navigation."
Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, appear in the patent to think the conventional system used in games "only provide limited resources for automated NPCs."
While nowhere does it state that this is in reference to GTA 6, the patent does go on about various vehicles, such as trucks, motorcycles and sedans, and about "high-speed chases." GTA is definitely known for those features.
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The patent, titled "System And Method For Virtual Navigation In A Gaming Environment," also suggests navigation between multiple islands. GTA 6 has long been rumoured to feature Vice City and Liberty City, but only time will tell if we're getting a completely new setting in Central America or something a little familiar.
The leak goes on about how NPCs could react to different vehicles, and and routes for automated vehicles - issues to be faced in order to achieve a more realistic environment for the game.
That's something we know Rockstar Games excels at, so we wouldn't be surprised to see the next-generation of NPCs in GTA 6. In the meantime, check out the patent (warning: it comes with plenty of graphs).