Rockstar has long used its own in-house engine, RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine), for major titles. For GTA 6, they are believed to be using an upgraded version often referred to as RAGE-9. This iteration builds on what was done with RDR2 and GTA V, but pushes in multiple directions: more realistic physics, bigger open-world complexity, better rendering features, and more dynamic environments. gameupdatedaily.com+5PlayStation Universe+5GameOLL+5
Some improvements likely include better material systems (such as PBR—Physics Based Rendering) that allow surfaces to react with light in more life-like ways. Details like wet surfaces, roughness, reflections, translucency will look more convincing. rockstarmag.fr+1
Rendering and Lighting Enhancements
One of the most talked-about changes is the use of ray tracing. Unlike older rendering methods, ray tracing simulates how light rays bounce off surfaces, hit shadows, reflect on shiny objects, and create more realistic ambient light. In GTA 6 this means reflections in water, windows, metallic surfaces will behave more dynamically; shadows will be softer or sharper depending on lighting, and ambient lighting will respond to environmental changes. rockstarmag.fr+3GameOLL+3gameupdatedaily.com+3
Alongside ray tracing, global illumination is also expected to be much more sophisticated. Light won’t only come from direct sources (sun, lamps) but from bounced light off indirect surfaces. That allows interiors to light up more naturally, rooms to feel more connected to the outside, and scenes to avoid looking flat. GTANew – The Ultimate GTA News Hub!+2gta6.art+2
Volumetric effects are likely to be much more prominent. Clouds, fog, rain, smoke, dust, ambient particles will be rendered in a way that they fill volumes of space, cast shadows, change density over distance, have light pass through them in believable patterns. Weather and time-of-day transitions will interact with these effects to create dramatic visuals. rockstarmag.fr+3GTANew – The Ultimate GTA News Hub!+3gta6.art+3
World Detail, Textures, and Geometry
High fidelity textures are a major part of the uplift. Surfaces across the world—buildings, roads, character skin, clothes—will have higher resolution texture maps, more fine detail, and likely better streaming systems so that distant areas are still detailed without overloading hardware. T3+3gameupdatedaily.com+3gta6.art+3
The geometry, meaning the 3D shapes, also gets a boost. More polygons (the small triangles or shapes that make up objects) allow smoother curves, more complex architecture, more detailed character models. Vegetation, debris, small environmental props will be richer. At the same time, Rockstar must balance draw distance (how far you can see detailed stuff) with performance, so there are systems that stream detail in or out, level-of-detail (LOD) systems that reduce complexity when objects are far, etc. T3+2GTA 6 Skin+2
Texture streaming is expected: the engine will load and unload texture data dynamically so that memory usage remains manageable and performance stays smooth as you move through the world. gta6.art+1
Physics, Environment, and AI Integration
Graphics are not just about what you see, it’s also about how the world behaves. Regarding physics, there are reports that water will be physically simulated in real time: waves, splashes, interactions, maybe even how rain accumulates or wind moves foliage. Vehicle damage, destruction, and environmental damage (objects getting knocked over, debris etc.) will likely have more realistic deformation. Reddit+2rockstarmag.fr+2
Weather plays a dual role: visual spectacle and gameplay impact. Storms, wind, rain, fog, maybe hurricanes, all of which change lighting, visibility, surface wetness, and possibly even impact traffic, driving physics or NPC behavior. The transitions between day, night, dawn, dusk are expected to be more subtle and rich. Sunrises and sunsets, for example, may have more nuanced light scattering and atmospheric effects. rockstarmag.fr+1
NPCs (non-player characters) and world objects are likely to be tied more closely to the graphics engine via AI. This means more realistic shadows cast by people, clothing responding to wind, sweat or water dripping off clothes, more believable facial expressions, better motion-capture blended with procedural animation so characters don’t look stiff or robotic. NoobFeed+2gta6.art+2
Performance Targets and Hardware Constraints
Even as visuals improve, Rockstar has to manage performance and hardware limits. Current expectations are for 4K resolution support, especially on high-end PCs and next-gen consoles, with target frame rates in some modes reaching 60 fps. On consoles less powerful, there will likely be quality/fidelity modes, possibly with dynamic resolution scaling, variable frame rates, or reduced detail to maintain smooth gameplay. techmsworld.com+2GTA 6 Skin+2
Optimization is key. Advanced graphics features like ray tracing and global illumination are expensive. To make them run, developers use tricks like culling (not drawing what you can’t see), LODs, efficient shading models, and improved memory management. Streaming textures, compressing data smartly, asynchronous loading, and balancing CPU vs GPU workloads will all matter. T3+1
Hardware differences will influence the visual experience. On PC you might get highest settings, maximum ray tracing, ultra texture resolution. On consoles like PS5 or Xbox Series, especially mid-range versions or future “Pro” or “Slim” updates, there will be trade-offs. Some features might be scaled down. Push Square+2PlayStation Universe+2
What Remains Speculative
Despite many leaks and reports, some of the most ambitious features are not confirmed. For instance, while many articles claim GTA 6 will use “RAGE-9”, Rockstar has not officially confirmed public details of this version beyond hints. Some environmental or AI features (like NPC pathfinding in water, complex interactions, or large-scale weather disasters) may be in prototype or research phase rather than final. rockstarmag.fr+1
Other speculative items include support for ultra high resolutions beyond 4K (like 8K), extremely high frame rate modes across all platforms, and advanced upscaling technologies. These could depend heavily on hardware, backwards compatibility, or whether Rockstar chooses to enable them.