Why sleeping and eating will actually matter in GTA 6

A lot has changed since the last Grand Theft Auto released in 2013, and while we imagine all typical snark and satire of the franchise's past will be revamped for GTA VI, we're also expecting a far more advanced game.

After all, with everything from The Last of Us Part II to Cyberpunk 2077 having released in the meantime, Rockstar Games has set its own impossibly high gaming bar with 2018's Red Dead Redemption 2.

GTA VI is tipped to have a level of realism not seen before in video games, but more than just running around a modernized Vice City as Jason and Lucia, we'll apparently have to take care of our dual protagonists.

We previously covered how an advanced morality system will stop tracking those who are 'irredeemable', but that's nothing to what else Rockstar has in store. Think of GTA VI as The Sims, but The Sims where you get to curb stomp prostitutes and shoot up the police.

GTA VI brings back San Andreas' weight system

Hitting the gym for an early morning workout, or running down the beaches of Vice City feels like an updated version of GTA: San Andreas' weight system that was introduced all the way back in 2004. Back then, letting CJ eat too much Cluckin' Bell would see his avatar get noticeably bigger, with in-game effects of obesity including lower stamina and running speed, as well as being locked out of certain athletic missions until weight is lost by visiting gyms.

Speaking tom Dazed, Rob Nelson, head of development and co-studio head at Rockstar North, explained how GTA VI will feel like an evolution of San Andreas' weight system with a bit of Red Dead Redemption 2 realism thrown in for good measure.

In RDR2, a grizzled Arthur Morgan would look visibly more bedraggled and sport a long beard if you'd spent a few weeks of in-game time hunting without luck in the mountains. One too many drunken bar fights would leave him scarred, so Jason and Lucia need to watch their backs.

Dazed notes that expanded systems will alter Jason and Lucia's bodies, with food and exercise affecting their appearance and muscle tone.

Spending too long away from your bed while on the run from the police or a multi-day bender and we're told that you'll "pay the price for that as well." Compared to The Picture of Dorian Gray, your 'habit and sins' will apparently be written on the faces and bodies of their avatars. We're warned "Between visual feedback mechanisms, deep relationship mechanics and the heightened realism of the world they inhabit, people might even think twice about going on the arcade-style rampages of GTA games gone by, once they land in Leonida."

Health is wealth

We're reminded of how health experts have claimed we could be wrecking our own health with extended GTA VI gameplay sessions, but in a separate interview with TGG (via GamesRadar+), Nelson confirmed an in-game health app will keep an eye on sleep and other metrics...of our characters.

Nelson expanded: "It will say whether you're well rested or not. That will have some effect on regen of certain attributes. We track lots of things - all this good stuff."

Don't get too worried, as Nelson reiterated, "You have to actually eat quite a bit" before it'll have a proper impact on your gameplay.

Remember that you'll also need to keep pumping iron, because you'll also lose muscle if you don't maintain it.

Hitting the gym with Jason or Lucia serves as more than just a way to keep those rippling abs, as it'll supposedly improve their relationship by serving as a date.

It's unclear what other activities will affect our attributes, but with GTA VI coming on November 19, there isn't too long to wait.

Isn't it ironic that we'll put hours into the health and wellbeing of video game characters and not ourselves, as we undoubtedly stay up until 4am playing GTA VI.