Rockstar went too far with the realism in the open world? An experiment in Red Dead Redemption 2 revealed a shocking level of detail

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A recent discovery about the population numbers in Red Dead Redemption 2 has sparked a debate about whether Rockstar Games took realism too far in the popular western game.

Red Dead Redemption 2 has been a huge success with players and critics alike. However, it still faced some criticism, and not just because of the intense work conditions during its development. Surprisingly, one of the main complaints was actually the very thing that made the game so popular: its incredibly detailed world.

A virtual survey for virtual residents

YouTuber Any Austin took a unique approach to see how realistic the game was. He thoroughly researched the lives of the fictional town’s residents – things like their ages, jobs, health, and income – and then compared that information to actual data from American frontier towns in 1907.

Let me tell you, trying to get information for this census was way harder than it sounds! It wasn’t just a matter of asking people a few questions. A lot of the residents don’t even have names, so we had to rely on what they looked like and how they acted to figure things out. Even something as simple as age was tough – the YouTuber had to boil it down to just a few broad categories, hoping nobody was older than they appeared!

The biggest issue is that the people in Red Dead Redemption 2 aren’t fully consistent. While certain characters, like the sheriff and banker, always appear (unless you kill them), many others are just randomly generated strangers.

To tackle the challenge of finding people randomly, Any Austin started by estimating Valentine’s population – around one hundred residents. He then divided the town map into 54 sections and scheduled specific times to survey each one, a method often used when studying groups that are difficult to locate.

A lot of the in-game details are estimates, but there’s good evidence suggesting the world isn’t in the best shape. One YouTuber noticed that every character with a name has a unique set of teeth, complete with cavities. Even the random townspeople in Valentine have over 10 different kinds of teeth. This attention to detail extends to things like clothing and location, which hint at each character’s job.

What really struck Any Austin was how accurately his game data reflected life on the American frontier. While there were some differences – notably the lack of children, a common omission in Rockstar games – details like job types, particularly farming, and even unemployment levels were surprisingly realistic.

It’s important to remember this is more of a quirky detail than actual evidence that Valentine is a realistic town, especially considering the game isn’t perfect and has faced some criticism – even about minor things like the characters’ teeth. However, the fact that anyone even started looking into this shows just how famous Red Dead Redemption 2 is for its incredible, and sometimes excessive, level of detail.

People are playfully suggesting a YouTuber’s recent findings might have pushed back the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 by several months. If that’s true, then Any Austin would have plenty of time to conduct another survey in a different virtual world.

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2025-12-10 18:02