GTA 6's day and night cycle is dividing fans who want realism

Grand Theft Auto VI fans are divided on the upcoming game’s day and night cycle, with people torn on whether the game should prioritise realism or fun.

Rockstar Games has always featured day and night cycles as part of their open-world sandbox games, with each entry in the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series featuring an in-game clock that represents days moving forward.

While older GTA games featured in-game days which lasted 24 minutes (i.e., one real-time minute represents one in-game hour), Grand Theft Auto IV increased that duration to 48 minutes, which helped the passage of time feel more realistic.

However, fans are now questioning whether that duration is enough, or if Rockstar needs to increase the scale of time again, so in-game days go by much more slowly.

As seen on Reddit (thanks, Comic Book), one fan has asked others whether the 48-minute timespan for in-game days is enough, or whether that needs to be increased.

“​In GTA 5 and RDR2, a full 24-hour cycle takes exactly 48 minutes of real time,” writes user ZionistControlUSA.

“While that worked fine for a long time, when I’m actually immersed in the world, just driving around or exploring details, the days feel like they fly by at warp speed. You look up, and suddenly it’s nighttime again, and a beautiful sunrise lasts for all of 45 seconds.”

They add that “​with Leonida looking absolutely massive and incredibly detailed, I really hope Rockstar considers slowing things down. Even bumping it up to 60 or 90 minutes for a full day would give the world so much more time to breathe. It would make catching a sunset on the beach or cruising down the highway during the afternoon feel way more atmospheric.”

It’s a tricky situation, because you’d need to find a good balance between realism and fun. Having longer days would help players to be immersed in Grand Theft Auto VI’s world, but it’d be frustrating for players having to wait for stores to open up in the morning, or certain characters and missions to be available at specific times.

Of course, you could get around that by giving the player a “wait” option similar to Fallout or The Elder Scrolls. GTA games already give you the option to skip time by sleeping at a safe house, too.

Read More: GTA 6 set to lack major feature on Xbox amid 'best on PS5' campaign

Other players have their own suggestions for how Rockstar can address the scale of time in Grand Theft Auto VI.

“I think 48 minutes is a pretty good middle ground lowkey,” reads one comment in the replies. “Its almost one proper gaming session long. Too short and it would amplify the ludonarrative dissonance. And too long, will just make it day too much or night too much.”

“Yeah, agreed. Days go by way too fast, three hours would be good,” another reply reads.

We imagine that Rockstar will probably stick to 48 minutes for its day and night cycle, but if it were going to change that rule, then it would almost certainly be made longer as opposed to shorter.

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The vibrant night life of Vice City in GTA VI, Rockstar Games

Video game day and night cycles vary from minutes to hours long

Historically, there isn’t really an agreed-upon day length for games that feature day and night cycles, as it depends on the type of game. However, many developers seem to agree that it should fit within an average game session.

Many games that you can play in short bursts tend to have days which last for around 20 minutes.

In Minecraft, for example, days last for 20 minutes, with daylight being 10 minutes long, night lasting for just over eight minutes, and the rest reserved for dawn and dusk.

Similarly, a full day in Stardew Valley (6 AM to 2 AM) lasts 14 real-time minutes, and Don’t Starve’s days last eight minutes.

Meanwhile, days in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time last a measly two minutes and 30 seconds, though that game only passes time when you’re outside of towns and dungeons.

On the longer side, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s in-game days are about 90 minutes long, while Cyberpunk 2077’s days go even longer, with one day taking just under three real-life hours to pass.