GTA Online NPCs Steal A Player's Helicopter Not Once, But TWICE

A certain incident in a GTA Online player's game has a few others either marvelling at the entire thing.

(Photo : Photo from Rockstar Games' Website)

GameRant reports that a certain GTA Online player by the handle Paulchen_Lichtstrahl on Reddit literally saw NPCs steal their Sparrow helicopter not once, but twice in an occurrence that seems to be a rarity in the game. Here's the video showing just that:

As you can see there, one NPC initially took them out of the helicopter. Then, a few others joined in on the fun, ran the player over, and one NPC took the helicopter from the first one as well, eventually flying off with it. It seems like commenters on the post found the occurrence quite funny, though. They were saying things like how "nothing is safe in Los Santos," with some even pointing out how the first NPC was content just sitting inside - while the second one actually flew off with the aircraft.

Either way, this isn't really a hassle in GTA Online. Unless, of course, Paulchen_Lichtstrahl just stole the helicopter from somewhere and doesn't actually own it. If he does own the helicopter, he can just send it back to storage and have it delivered to them wherever they are on the map. By sending it back to storage, the NPC will literally fall to the ground and die once the copter disappears in mid-air.

GTA Online itself was designed as a chaotic sandbox, where most of the troublemakers are real players. That's the nature of the game. However, Rockstar Games did make sure that the game's NPCs are programmed to not only react to player actions, but also do their own thing.

It's these random encounters that make GTA Online memorable in its own right, just like other titles from Rockstar Games famous for the same thing (i.e. Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2). No wonder why there are over 90,000 players logging onto the game every day, resulting onto around 2.5 million players every month (via CharlieIntel, as of May 2022).

Are GTA Online/GTA 5 NPCs Really That Advanced?

Video game AI in general is still pretty dumb. That's why we still don't have a Free Guy-style thing happening where AI-driven NPCs develop their own consciousness. Though those two NPCs hijacking a real human player's helicopter does make a potential case for these characters potentially ruining people's fun.

On the Rockstar Games support page, one user posted how they think GTA Online's AI is pretty overpowered. They mention "aimbot-like accuracy" that allows them to hit players from inordinate distances, alongside AI health which they deem to be "too much." Now, this is just the opinion of one player, but maybe others share in their feelings.

Or maybe there's something a bit more sinister with this game's NPCs. In a PCGamesN report, it was said that perhaps some of those "NPCs" that steal player vehicles are actually real players in disguise, who want to take your souped up supercars and aircraft for themselves.

One YouTuber called Elanip is allegedly already doing this, all by doing things what NPCs would normally do: walk in straight lines, stand still while there's chaos going on, and look "normal." It's not cheating per se, as stealing someone else's stuff is the main deal of a game called Grand Theft Auto. But maybe you should be more wary of your surroundings next time you hop on to GTA Online.