Ravenous for any new information about Grand Theft Auto 6, GTA fans have uncovered the LinkedIn profile of a Rockstar Games principal engine programmer, whose written job experience might have given a small glimpse into what the studio is working on behind the scenes.
First highlighted on the r/GTA6 subreddit, the LinkedIn profile in question appears to belong to Ryan Woods, who’s been at Rockstar since May 2020 working on GTA 6. A screenshot of his job experience includes a relatively lengthy description of his work overseeing the “design, development, and optimization of core engine of Rockstar’s in-house RAGE engine.” What’s more, the description mentions optimization efforts to “maintain smooth performance across multiple platforms, including next-gen consoles and PC,” and makes reference to “the integration of new technologies and research into the engine pipeline,” including ray-tracing and “procedural generation for objects and game environments” – and the latter part has turned a few heads.
The latest version of Rockstar’s RAGE engine for GTA 6 appears to feature procedural object generation, meaning the game can create objects differently each time, adding variety and realism to the world from r/GTA6
While the user who shared the screenshot suggests that it means that “the game can create objects differently each time, adding variety and realism to the world,” the mention of procedural generation frankly means quite little on its own. Procedural generation is hardly a new thing in games and game development, and the description here hasn’t given away any details on the extent to which it’s actually being utilized – it doesn’t necessarily mean that entire areas and locations are going to be generated this way. Some on Reddit have suggested that it could be used to add variety to small objects so that you don’t see the exact same things repeated throughout the world or perhaps so that the developers don’t have to manually place every tree in the game, for example.
What’s more, it’s worth noting that Woods appears to have updated his LinkedIn since the screenshot went viral, as his profile now displays a slightly different description. It now makes no reference to the RAGE engine, procedural generation, ray-tracing, or PC as a platform. Even after these changes, however, his profile states: “Spearheaded the integration of cutting-edge technologies, such as advanced lighting and memory techniques into the engine pipeline to push technical boundaries and game development/engine tooling.”
I don’t know about you, but “cutting-edge” technology still sounds very exciting, and it’d tie into another recent tease by a Rockstar Games rep who said that the team is working on “absolutely mind-blowing things.” Almost a year on from the first trailer, hopefully we’ll get to see more of Rockstar’s upcoming open-world blockbuster soon.