Edge magazine visited Rockstar North studio in Edinburgh several weeks before the release of Grand Theft Auto VI. Rob Nelson, one of the studio's leaders, played the current build for an hour and a half. Without a script and without prepared scenes.
The report took up 16 pages in Edge issue 430. The game releases on November 19, 2026.
Screenshots: Rockstar Games for Edge.
Scale and density of Leonida
What strikes you first is not the size of the world, but how densely it's been filled in by hand. Here are the numbers:
- the map is approximately twice as large as in GTA 5
- according to Rockstar, all the land together with Vice City is almost equal to the game maps of GTA 4, GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined
- there are “an order of magnitude more” interiors than in previous games, says Aaron Garbut, the studio's second head
- even after several years in the game, Garbut still finds places he hasn't been to yet
Interiors are built as traces of other people's lives. Photos hang on the walls, things pile up on tables, owners' clutter fills the rooms. Architects, artists and designers build interiors in layers.
Garbut recalls a house where, in one room, touching photographs of a dog hung on the wall. In the neighboring room, it became clear what the dog got up to when alone: everything overturned, piles in the corner. Jason flinched and recoiled, even though no one had written a special scene for this house. The reaction to a disgusting smell was first created for one location, then grew into a system: different places trigger different levels of disgust.
Citizens with Character
The demonstration began in Jason and Lucia's apartment. Jason drank coffee, which increases stamina, and a protein shake, which restores health, and went outside. A man with a dog didn't appreciate a too-long stare, asked what he was looking at, and let his dog off the leash. Jason ran away, pulled cigarettes from his inventory and lit one. Further on, police officers were putting handcuffs on a detainee, leaving their vehicles unattended. Nelson opened the trunk, took the shotgun and moved on. Three minutes had passed since the start of the demo.
A separate team of writers, directors, and producers in Los Angeles is responsible for the residents of Leonida.
- each NPC was worked on by hand, with around 600,000 animations
- pedestrians have character traits: temperament, aggression, their location, and what they've seen
- their reaction also depends on how you treated them
- different districts have their own populations and professions
Pedestrians notice even how you carry a shotgun: one way over your shoulder, another in your hands. The crowd backs away or scatters, someone might call out to you. You can drop the weapon, and the game has some patience before it turns into a manhunt.
Weather Has a Life of Its Own
In GTA 5, weather switched between presets: sun, rain, overcast. In GTA 6, it's far more detailed.
- clouds move independently, shaped by wind, humidity, fog, time of day, and season
- standing in sunshine, you can see a thunderstorm in the distance: dark clouds, lightning, sheets of rain
- as you approach it, roads get wet, water drips from buildings, and surfaces dry at different rates
- wind sways trees, drives clouds and waves, while islands and buildings shelter patches of water from the wind, and boats move differently
- a plane or helicopter gets tossed around in a thunderstorm, and lingering in it causes light damage
- in bad weather, pedestrians seek shelter
Wide roads and highways of GTA 5 have been narrowed down to «a more realistic size». The day-night cycle has been noticeably extended: sunsets last longer, as do nights. When the game was tested with the old timings, according to Nelson, «everything seemed too fast».
Criminal Profile and Character Relationships
Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos — partners in crime and, if you want, a couple. A new Criminal Profile system tracks how criminal each of them is.
- the scale ranges from «Professional» to «Incorrigible», marked by angel and devil icons
- you can incapacitate enemies instead of killing them, or try threats and intimidation first
- whoever shoots first gets a brutal profile
- according to Rockstar, the profile affects how the story will unfold
Character closeness is measured on a four-level scale. It grows the more time they spend together: beach walks, cycling, gym (you need to buy a membership first) or just drives, where one is behind the wheel and the other scrolls through their phone. You can switch between characters when the story allows.
Freedom here is within narrow limits. You can choose what kind of criminal to be, but you can't stop being one. You can determine how close the characters are and, perhaps, how their relationship is formalized: Nelson neither confirmed nor denied whether Jason and Lucia can marry. They can't completely turn away from each other.
Police only know what they saw
The search is built on what is known about you. The "heat" system collects identifying features.
- appearance, whether you were alone or with a partner, what you were wearing, whether you appeared on cameras, what weapon you had
- identifying features are visible as icons at the top of the screen — essentially, this is a police description you're running from
- if witnesses saw two people, you can separate from your partner
- changing clothes makes the description less accurate
- a discarded weapon removes another piece of evidence
Evading pursuit now means not just waiting out the stars, but gradually becoming less recognizable.
Nelson showed a failed robbery. Jason and Lucia were escaping on a stolen motorcycle. You can hand the wheel to your partner — "it's AI, but kind and old-fashioned," Nelson jokes — and shoot it out with the police from the passenger seat. Police laid spikes on the road, almost invisible at night and at speed. The wheel burst, the heroes were thrown over the handlebars, and an arriving K-9 unit released a German shepherd that knocked Jason to the ground.
Police aren't the only obstacle. A passerby whose wallet you've stolen can attack from behind, and a customer at a gas station can try to play the hero. On the highway, guys in a tuned SUV with purple lighting cut off Nelson in an old station wagon and taunted him until he agreed to a race.
Car Theft, Fuel, and Scooter Bros
Even stealing a car is now a gamble.
- some drivers will flee in panic on their own
- another may be armed and will fight back
- a new expensive car may have a tracker that reports your location
- after almost any theft, the owner can report it to the police
- each car has a fuel gauge and engine condition indicator
- on one tank you can go far, and refueling doesn't take much time
You can call your car through the Scooter Bros app: for a small fee it will be brought in seconds, and the courier will leave on their scooter. Your entire arsenal is stored in the trunk.
There's also a WAINK app on your phone with a list of cars that buyers are looking for. It shows the model, protection, and trackers: the more protected the car, the harder it is to steal. Expensive models transmit their coordinates to the police, so you'll have to lose the tail on the way to the buyer. Part of the payment depends on the condition you bring the car in.
Life Between Missions
You can't run through the story non-stop. Sometimes the characters first need to get money for the next job: rob a gas station or jewelry store, steal a car for a buyer.
The game has full-fledged buses and trains. Phil Hooker, the third development director who is responsible for game stability, admits that he now spends a lot of time at stops.
I'm obsessed with them (the buses) always arriving. Anywhere in the middle of the game I tell myself: okay, let's go there by bus. I've learned all the routes.
The idea is that everyone lives in Leonida at their own pace: someone buys cigarettes and beer and rides the train all day, someone goes clubbing.
How the Game Was Built
Early research began in 2015, when Red Dead Redemption 2 was still in development. Nelson led a small group that traveled to Miami to understand what a return to Vice City could look like. The Bonnie and Clyde-style story was locked in only after Red Dead Redemption 2 came out.
- the Toronto studio handled world population and research
- the San Diego team handled ambient and interactive events
- work moves in six-to-eight-week phases: first individual areas, then build stabilization and heavy playtesting
The project has no rigid “bible.” Early design documents quickly went out of date, and the team realized that “the game tells you what it needs.” Satire grows the same way: some write brands and billboards, others radio ads, others TV shows. Sam Houser, the company's president, discusses the map with Garbut, comes up with characters and takes part in major decisions. He and Nelson regularly play together and pass notes to the teams.
Garbut says he has never felt this calm on any previous project.
We didn't cut anything: not the scale, not the detail, not the interactivity, not the story, not the open world. It feels like we built a pyramid on Everest.
Hooker won't guess how the game will be received after November 19. Nelson calls the outside pressure “unprecedented,” but says the work is almost done: “It's ready. It stops being ours and becomes everyone's.”
Below is the launch trailer Rockstar released on October 15.