GTA 6's "romance" mechanic explained

Jason and Lucia can romance each other, but it's entirely optional. In an interview with IGN, the GTA 6 devs told us that you can engage in acts that will strengthen the romantic bond between the two protagonists, which can have lasting effects on the narrative of the game, but won't have any meaningful gameplay implications. At any time, you could call your partner and ask them to join you and engage in side activities together, or even press R2 to hold hands. You'll even occasionally receive texts from your partner, when you're alone. Responding to them, even to say you'd rather be alone will maintain your relationship level, but leaving them on read will lower it. But if gameplay is unaffected, then what's the point? It helps make your play experience your own. While the main story beats will stay the same, you might hear slightly different dialogue based on the current relationship level. By making it entirely optional, the devs wanted to make clear that these sort of simulator elements would be available to those that want to engage with it, but not required for completion. They also assured us that even if you didn't engage with romance whatsoever, Jason and Lucia would still stick together as they'll remain partners in crime. The aim here is to give players choice. Will you play the story as criminals in love or keep it platonic? Let us know.