What engine is GTA 6 using? Here’s what we know

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Ever since GTA 6’s first trailer arrived on the scene, many on the internet are asking what engine is GTA 6 using?

The visuals of Rockstar’s return to Vice City are very striking, with plenty of neons, pink skies and plenty to feast your eyes on. But more and above the graphics, a lot of attention has been paid to the game’s engine – and that means many are interested on what foundations the game will be built on when it finally arrives for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2025. Let’s take a look at what we can find out about the engine that Rockstar will be using to bring GTA 6 to life.

What engine is being used for GTA 6? Prediction and speculation

While Rockstar are yet to officially confirm, it’s believed that GTA 6 will be using the ninth version of their proprietary game engine Rockstar Advance Game Engine, known as RAGE 9 for short. The RAGE Engine has been powering Rockstar games as far back as Rockstar Table Tennis for the Xbox 360 and Wii all the way back in 2006.

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Each new version of the engine has come with each game released since – so for example, Grand Theft Auto 5 used RAGE 7, while Red Dead Redemption 2 used RAGE 8. Ergo it’s widely believed that GTA 6 will be using RAGE 9.

However, Rockstar do tend to keep information about their game engines fairly quiet, so it’s not so easy to verify this. Reports from back in October came from a site called Rockstarmag, citing their own sources that claim the new version of the engine will include improved water physics, and weather systems. Again, we must stress that these are unverified at the time of writing, so take this with a pinch of salt.


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However, we have no reason to believe at this stage that Rockstar have moved away from using their own engine, at least judging on the looks of the trailer – although it is very difficult to ascertain an engine just on visuals alone. But if the reactions to the trailer so far are anything to go by, it won’t be long before it’s at the back of most gamer’s minds.

We’ll update this page should we hear more on what engine is used in GTA 6. In the meantime, check out what we know about the Grand Theft Auto 6 pre order here, and here’s our ranking of the GTA trailers.

About the Author

Ben Borthwick

Ben Borthwick is the News Editor for VideoGamer. He's a fan of action adventure games, music games and especially comedic games like the Monkey Island series.

Grand Theft Auto 6

  • Platform(s): PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series X
  • Genre(s): Action, Action Adventure