By Online Games VIP Editorial
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IGN reports that GTA 6 will build on Red Dead Redemption 2 with large and small choices affecting Jason, Lucia, their bond, and Criminal Profiles.
Rockstar is building Grand Theft Auto 6 around a broader idea of player agency, with decisions of different sizes affecting protagonists Jason and Lucia. IGN reports that the studio wants the pair’s story to respond not only to major turning points, but also to the smaller actions players take throughout their time in Leonida.
In an interview conducted during a visit to Rockstar North, IGN spoke with Rob Nelson, the studio’s co-studio head. According to IGN, Nelson described the approach as a continuation of work that Rockstar began developing more deliberately in Red Dead Redemption 2, where optional activities, character relationships, and moral behavior helped players feel that they were shaping Arthur Morgan’s version of the story.
IGN reports that GTA 6 will apply those ideas to Jason and Lucia, including their relationship and their Criminal Profiles. The report does not confirm how many endings the game will have, how extensively the plot can diverge, or exactly which decisions will produce each outcome.
Before Red Dead Redemption 2 launched, Rockstar faced the challenge of introducing Arthur Morgan after John Marston had become strongly associated with the first game. IGN’s account explains that Rockstar responded by putting particular care into Arthur’s characterization and the connection between the protagonist and the player.
IGN reports that Nelson described this as a question of how much a character should belong to the writer and how much should feel like an expression of the person playing. That distinction shaped several parts of Arthur’s story. Arthur had established loyalties and a personal history, but the game also gave players room to influence how those traits were expressed.
One example discussed by IGN concerns Arthur’s loyalty to Dutch van der Linde. The story already established that Dutch had saved Arthur when he was young, providing a reason for Arthur’s continued allegiance. Nelson explained that Rockstar also added a more player-focused motivation involving the location of the gang’s money. The aim, as reported by IGN, was to give players an additional reason to remain invested rather than requiring them to accept Arthur’s loyalty only because the script demanded it.
That distinction matters for GTA 6 because Jason and Lucia are not being presented as blank avatars. They have their own identities and relationship, yet Rockstar appears to be looking for ways to let players influence how that relationship and their criminal lives develop. IGN reports that the studio sees both large decisions and modest choices as part of that process.
Optional content made Arthur’s story feel personal
Red Dead Redemption 2 did not rely only on its main missions to build character connections. IGN highlights the Van der Linde gang’s camp as an important example. Players could spend time with gang members, take part in story conversations, or encounter more incidental exchanges. According to IGN, this mixture of structured dialogue and everyday interaction helped the camp feel like a lived-in community.
IGN reports that Rockstar wants GTA 6’s safehouses to carry some of that same function. Rather than serving only as traditional Grand Theft Auto interiors, the safehouses across Leonida are intended to provide more opportunities for Jason and Lucia to interact with their surroundings and with each other. The report does not specify how many safehouses there will be or what activities each one will contain.
Another example from Arthur’s story involves optional acts of kindness. Nelson told IGN that some of these activities were originally mandatory parts of the main story, but Rockstar moved them out of the central path. Players still had to meet Mary Linton, but helping her brother and meeting her again were not required in the same way.
IGN’s analysis of Nelson’s explanation is that optional actions made Arthur’s redemption feel more personally earned. A player who chose to help could view those decisions as part of Arthur’s transformation, while another player could follow a less compassionate version of the character. The underlying story remained authored by Rockstar, but the route through Arthur’s moral journey felt more connected to player behavior.
That structure is likely to be relevant in GTA 6. If optional activities have a similar role, time spent away from the main missions may help define Jason and Lucia rather than functioning as separate filler. This is analysis based on the approach described by IGN, not confirmation of specific optional missions in GTA 6.
IGN reports that GTA 6 will feature Criminal Profiles for Jason and Lucia, with those profiles changing according to the outcomes of choices made during the story. The report describes this as an equivalent, in broad terms, to the way Red Dead Redemption 2 used Arthur’s honor system. However, the supplied interview does not establish whether Criminal Profiles will use a visible meter, separate categories, or another design.
The comparison with Arthur’s honor system is useful because Red Dead Redemption 2 used moral behavior to influence more than a final label. IGN reports that Arthur’s dialogue and some cutscene details could change depending on how the player had been approaching him. A more honorable Arthur could express himself with greater sentiment in a key exchange, while a lower-honor version of the character could respond in a more hardened manner.
IGN also notes that the honor system did not simply divide Arthur into two fixed character types. Instead, the changes were designed to reflect the way that particular player had been treating the character. That suggests Criminal Profiles may matter through accumulated behavior as well as isolated dramatic decisions, although Rockstar has not publicly detailed the system in the material covered by the report.
The report further connects Jason and Lucia’s relationship to the story’s changing outcomes. IGN states that how players choose to develop their romantic bond will affect the narrative. The available source text does not explain whether the relationship has a set of branching stages, how much control players have over it, or whether every major outcome requires both protagonists to reach the same conclusion.
Analysis: The most important implication is that GTA 6 may treat player choice as a continuous process rather than a handful of obvious prompts. The wording reported by IGN points toward a system in which small actions accumulate, while certain major choices can have immediate importance. That would make routine decisions, optional conversations, and time spent with the protagonists potentially relevant to the way the story feels.
For players, this could create more than one version of Jason and Lucia without requiring an entirely different campaign for every possible behavior. A player who spends more time strengthening their relationship, follows optional character scenes, or makes different criminal decisions might reach familiar story events with different motivations and dialogue. Whether those variations lead to substantial changes or mostly affect presentation remains unknown.
The safehouse comparison also raises an important player-facing question. In Red Dead Redemption 2, camp interactions gave players a reason to return between missions because they developed knowledge of the gang and its individual members. If GTA 6’s safehouses work in a similar way, they could be central to understanding Jason and Lucia rather than just places to save progress or change equipment. That possibility is an interpretation of the reported design direction, not a confirmed list of safehouse features.
There is also a balance Rockstar will need to manage. More agency can make a protagonist feel personal, but Jason and Lucia still need coherent identities for the crime story to retain momentum. IGN’s report suggests that Rockstar is trying to combine authored characters with player influence, as it did with Arthur. The success of that balance will depend on how visibly the game responds and whether the consequences feel connected to the choices that caused them.
What remains unknown about GTA 6’s branching story
IGN does not confirm the number of endings GTA 6 will offer. It also does not establish how far the story can move away from a central path, whether Jason and Lucia can reach radically different fates, or how much their relationship can change before the conclusion.
The available report does not provide a complete explanation of Criminal Profiles. Rockstar has not, through the material cited by IGN, detailed how players will raise or lower the profiles, whether the system applies separately to Jason and Lucia, or whether it will be visible during normal play.
Several practical details are also still open. Rockstar has not specified the full range of optional activities at the safehouses, the number of relationship-focused scenes, or the way small choices will be tracked. It is also not confirmed whether every choice will produce a clear consequence or whether some will mainly alter dialogue, character animation, or the tone of a scene.
The next useful evidence will be a fuller explanation of Criminal Profiles, examples of a choice changing a mission or cutscene, and details about how Jason and Lucia’s relationship develops across the campaign. Until then, IGN’s report confirms the direction Rockstar is pursuing, but not the final scale of GTA 6’s branching story.