A new Take-Two patent has been found that seems dependent on improving the intelligence and navigation capacities of AI.

The patent, which enlists a “system and method for virtual navigation in a gaming environment” has been posted on Reddit in the last few days, however the genuine record was initially documented by Rockstar’s parent organization, Take-Two, back in October 2020.

In the easiest terms possible, the patent is outfitted at making non-player characters’ (that is NPCs, for short) artificial intelligence a little more intelligent and more organic, trying to move away from current AI solutions that are beginning to understand somewhat dated.

The patent notes that “conventional systems only provide limited resources” for designers that need to populate their worlds with active elements. Consider the pedestrians you see walking down the road, the cars you see on the streets – even vehicles you see flying overhead. They run on scripts that permit just a set number of occurrences to be active in-game at any one time. NPCs ordinarily all drive at a similar speed, follow similar routes, and do very similar things.

Rockstar thinks these current systems are “deficient” and wants to rather empower systems that produce “a realistic virtual world that is not limited by hardware or software limitations.”

The recommended system in the patent, at that point, focuses towards a NPC solution that gives characters various personalities. Possibly a NPC in a particular sort of vehicle will intentionally take side streets to avoid traffic jams. Possibly another, who isn’t as certain a driver, will move a lot of more slow once the sun goes down in the evenings.

Obviously, there’s no recommendation that this is certainly connected to GTA 6 at the time of writing; Rockstar has scarcely even recognized the game exists. However, references to a “high-speed chase”, “ambient traffic”, etc proposes we’re taking a gander at something more modern here. Not – for argument’s sake – Red Dead Redemption 3, or comparable.

The patent is documented under the parent organization, yet the names appended to the patent as ‘inventors’ are Rockstar North tech director David Hynd and AI lead Simon Parr. So this is definitely something the studio is looking at with regards to next-gen open-world titles.

In spite of the fact that Rockstar stays tight-lipped about whatever the hell it’s dealing with straightaway, we have had reports that the next GTA early in development and will be more modest in scale contrasted with past Rockstar games.

Somewhere else, Take-Two marketing budget appears to suggest that GTA 6 may launch in 2023 and a GTA Online race appeared to highlight Vice City for GTA 6 back in 2020.

Simply recall, authoritatively, GTA 6 doesn’t exist yet.