Esquire Reveals More GTA 6 Details: Police Radar Changes, Throwable Dog Poop Bags, Joint Bank Account & More
Esquire Australia has revealed more GTA 6 details, including police radar changes, a joint bank account, armed NPCs, alcohol intoxication and even throwable dog-poop bags.
Esquire Australia visited Rockstar North and revealed more GTA 6 gameplay details, including major changes to police chases, throwable environmental objects, alcohol intoxication, Jason and Lucia's shared finances, more complex NPC interactions and changes to vehicle handling.
Journalist Noelle Faulkner visited Rockstar North in Edinburgh for an exclusive look at GTA 6 ahead of the release of Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look.
Like several other publications invited to Rockstar, Esquire watched Head of Development Rob Nelson demonstrate GTA 6 live on PlayStation 5 while discussing the systems that make up Leonida.
While much of the preview overlaps with details revealed elsewhere, it also contains several particularly interesting new observations and additional details about previously confirmed features.
Police No Longer Appear on the Radar During Chases
One of the most notable new details concerns GTA 6's redesigned police system.
According to Esquire, police chases have been intensified and police officers no longer appear on the radar during pursuits.
This forces players to pay closer attention to the world around them rather than relying on the minimap to track every pursuing officer.
Other previews have already revealed that police searches are significantly more sophisticated in GTA 6, with officers able to remember your appearance, clothing and vehicle and respond differently depending on the severity of your crimes.
Esquire's observation suggests Rockstar is also reducing the amount of information provided through the interface during active pursuits, potentially making escaping the police considerably less predictable.
You Can Throw Doggy Poop Bags at NPCs
In one of the stranger examples of GTA 6's increased environmental interactivity, Esquire reports that dog-waste bags can be picked up and thrown at NPCs.
The detail appeared among the journalist's notes while watching Rockstar demonstrate the game and provides another example of seemingly insignificant objects being turned into interactive parts of the world.
Other previews have similarly revealed that players can interact with discarded drinks cans, magazines, food, household objects and numerous items found throughout Leonida.
Drinking Alcohol Can Make Jason and Lucia Drunk!
Crazy, I know... Alcohol appears to have a more noticeable effect on the protagonists than simply functioning as another consumable item.
Esquire specifically noted that drinking alcohol results in intoxication, suggesting Jason and Lucia can become visibly or mechanically impaired after drinking.
The preview does not provide further details about exactly how intoxication affects movement, controls or other gameplay systems.
Jason and Lucia Share a Joint Bank Account
We already knew GTA 6 separates money stored in the bank from physical cash carried by the protagonists, but Esquire provides an important additional detail about how Jason and Lucia manage their finances.
The pair's deposited money goes into a joint bank account, while physical cash carried by each character remains separate.
Carried cash is also vulnerable, meaning money that hasn't been deposited can potentially be lost if something happens to the character carrying it.
This further reinforces the idea that Jason and Lucia operate as a genuine partnership rather than simply two separate playable protagonists.
If One Character Gets Wasted, Both Are Out
Esquire also describes another consequence of Jason and Lucia working together.
During situations where both characters are involved, if one of them gets Wasted, both characters are considered out.
This means keeping your AI-controlled partner alive may be just as important as protecting the character you're currently controlling during robberies and other dangerous situations.
Jason and Lucia Can Split Up to Lose the Police
The protagonists don't always need to remain together during crimes.
Esquire says that during robberies Jason and Lucia can work together to stake out or hit a location, but they can also split up while attempting to shake the police.
This matches previous previews explaining that GTA 6's wanted system can track both protagonists independently when they separate.
NPCs Can Carry Concealed Weapons
Rockstar continues to emphasise that pedestrians in GTA 6 shouldn't be treated as harmless background characters.
While walking along Vice City's beachfront, Esquire observed large groups of NPCs interacting with each other and was told that some pedestrians may be carrying concealed weapons.
That means approaching, threatening or attacking a seemingly ordinary pedestrian could unexpectedly result in them fighting back with a weapon.
Nelson summarised Rockstar's approach by explaining that while the player is extremely capable, they are not the only person in the world capable of violence.
Staring at NPCs Can Make Them Uncomfortable
NPCs also react to the way players behave around them even before anything explicitly hostile occurs.
During the demonstration, Nelson focused Jason's attention on a group of women talking together on the beach.
As Jason continued watching them and moved closer into their personal space, the women became visibly annoyed, challenged him and attracted the attention of other people nearby.
This suggests GTA 6's NPC awareness system takes into account more subtle player behaviour such as staring, following or invading someone's personal space.
GTA 6 Has More NPCs With More Dialogue Than Previous Rockstar Games
Nelson told Esquire that GTA 6 contains more NPCs than Rockstar has ever created before, with considerably greater complexity and more dialogue assigned to individual characters.
NPCs are also designed to visually fit the areas in which they live or spend time rather than being randomly distributed across the map.
This supports comments made in The New York Times preview, which revealed that GTA 6's pedestrians are individually art-directed rather than assembled entirely from interchangeable procedural parts.
NPC Conversations Have Multiple Responses Before Violence Begins
The familiar interaction system developed for Red Dead Redemption 2 has been expanded for GTA 6.
Players have different conversational responses available when interacting with NPCs, including Greet, Taunt, Defuse and Provoke.
Nelson explained that Rockstar has also considered the timing of these interactions, how long conversations last and how characters react to each possible response before the player ever draws a weapon or throws a punch.
The aim is to make ordinary social interactions capable of escalating naturally rather than NPCs immediately falling into a simple friendly-or-hostile state.
Every NPC Interaction Can Affect Your Criminal Profile
Esquire says the way players handle individual NPC encounters can contribute towards their wider Criminal Profile.
Rockstar has previously explained that this isn't a simple good-versus-evil morality system. Instead, GTA 6 tracks the type of criminal the player becomes, ranging from calculated and professional to reckless and violent.
The consequences extend into police responses and the wider criminal world, meaning repeatedly using unnecessary violence may make future situations more dangerous.
Vehicle Handling May Be More Challenging
Esquire also comments on GTA 6's driving model, suggesting that vehicles may be slightly more difficult to drive than in previous games.
The publication doesn't describe this as a confirmed universal change, so it is best treated as an impression from the demonstration rather than a definitive statement about GTA 6's handling model.
However, the journalist highlights considerably more variety in vehicle behaviour, modifications, traffic simulation and driving scenarios.
Early notes from the presentation even compared the vehicle dynamics favourably with dedicated racing games.
Every Vehicle Can Be Stolen
Despite GTA 6 introducing much more complicated security systems for newer and more expensive cars, Esquire states that every vehicle remains stealable.
The difference is that vehicles are now divided more clearly by the difficulty and equipment required to steal them.
Older vehicles may require relatively basic techniques, while newer cars can feature alarms, trackers and electronic security that require specialised tools or hacking.
Esquire describes this as part of GTA 6's wider criminal progression system, where the types of valuable property players can successfully steal develop alongside their capabilities.
Car Theft Is Part of GTA 6's Criminal Progression
Vehicle theft isn't simply an identical action performed on increasingly expensive cars.
Esquire describes a more layered progression system covering what players are capable of stealing and when.
This connects with previously revealed systems including key cloners, lockpicks, vehicle trackers, fences and GTA 6's expanded economy.
As the player acquires better equipment and criminal connections, more valuable targets should become realistically accessible.
Weapons Work More Like Red Dead Redemption 2's Horse Inventory
GTA 6 significantly limits the number of large weapons Jason and Lucia can carry directly.
Esquire compares the redesigned system to Red Dead Redemption 2's horse inventory, except GTA 6 uses vehicles as weapon storage.
This means players may need to choose which weapons they physically carry before leaving their vehicle rather than instantly accessing a huge arsenal at all times.
Other previews have confirmed that weapons can be stored in vehicle trunks and that larger firearms must be physically managed.
Money Is More Important Than in Previous GTA Games
Esquire also reinforces Rockstar's decision to make money significantly more important throughout the game.
Players have more ways to earn, steal and spend cash, while criminal progression affects which targets they can successfully exploit.
Previous previews have revealed that completing GTA 6's main storyline alone won't provide enough money to purchase everything available in Leonida, encouraging players to engage with robberies, businesses and optional activities.
Rockstar Studied Human Behaviour to Create GTA 6's Population
Nelson explained that Rockstar had to rethink how its entire NPC population system worked for GTA 6.
A major part of that process involved studying real human behaviour and how people interact within different locations and social situations.
Rockstar's field research teams have spent years travelling to real locations, speaking with residents and observing conversations to provide material for the game's fictional population.
Rockstar Met Gun Dealers, Police, Task Force Members and Club Owners
Esquire provides additional detail about the people Rockstar consulted while researching GTA 6.
The development team spoke with gun dealers, former police officers, former task-force members, nightclub owners and numerous Florida residents.
Researchers visited the Everglades, spent nights inside clubs and attended Sebring International Raceway, while other developers went on nighttime ride-alongs with police officers.
The information and experiences gathered during those trips were then used as inspiration for Leonida's characters, locations and scenarios.
Rockstar Is Still Refining GTA 6 Ahead of Release
As with several other media previews, Esquire notes that Rockstar continues to refine GTA 6 ahead of its November launch.
The sheer number of interconnected NPCs, vehicles, objects, activities, economic systems, crimes and random encounters means the studio is continuing to adjust and polish the game as development approaches its final stages.
Rockstar's central goal appears to be creating an open world where even small actions can produce unexpected consequences, with systems interacting dynamically rather than existing solely to support scripted missions.
You can view the full article at Esquire Australia.