Rockstar more than doubled its development team after RDR2, bringing in specialists from fashion, racing, and street art.
There are only a few months left before players can finally get their hands on Grand Theft Auto VI, which is now arguably the most-anticipated game of the decade. Recent GTA VI leaks have already given players plenty to talk about, but there is apparently still much to uncover about Rockstar’s next open-world game.
In an exclusive reported by Dazed, several members of Rockstar’s development team shared new details about how GTA VI is being built, from its more reactive world and Jason and Lucia’s relationship, to its NPCs, fashion, social media, and the years of research behind Leonida. The interview also gives a better sense of just how specialised the production has become. Rockstar’s development team has more than doubled since Red Dead Redemption 2, with dedicated teams and outside experts contributing to different parts of the game.
Grand Theft Auto VI
Release Date: 19 November, 2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox X|S Series
Developer: Rockstar Games
Price: US$80 for Standard Edition, US$100 for Ultimate Edition
How realistic will GTA VI be?
GTA VI will still have the guns, supercars and chaos the series is known for, but Rockstar is putting more weight behind how the world reacts to what players actually do.
Dazed describes GTA VI as landing somewhere between GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2. The world is more grounded and reactive than before, with player actions carrying consequences, instead of letting Jason or Lucia move through the city almost completely detached from the people around them.
One example is surprisingly simple: walk down the street while openly carrying a rifle, and the city will react to it. Rockstar is also aiming for NPCs that behave less like background props, and more like people inhabiting the same world as the player.
Rockstar North head of development and co-studio head Rob Nelson said the studio looks back at previous games when deciding where it needs to improve. "We look back at our previous games with a critical eye and see where we want to evolve based on what we didn’t do as well as we would have liked to, either because we didn’t have the time, resources or technological capabilities, or in some cases things we just didn’t do as well or consider as fully as we could have," Nelson said. "A lot of what we do is very iterative–we adjust a lot of things by feel based on what is working and what isn’t."
That level of specialisation also extends to one of GTA’s most important elements: driving. Dazed reports that Rockstar’s vehicle-handling team includes actual race-car drivers, although the studio did not go into further detail about how their experience has shaped GTA VI’s cars.
There is plenty more buried in the interview, including exactly how Jason and Lucia can work together and what happens when players spend a little too long living recklessly. So, let’s dig into the details.
How Jason and Lucia work together in GTA VI
Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos can head off independently, but GTA VI also allows players to switch between them while they are together. Dazed gives one example during a drive. Players can cruise down the highway as Jason, while Lucia sits in the passenger seat scrolling through her in-game social media feed. If a job goes wrong and turns into a car chase, control can move between the person behind the wheel and the person firing back at pursuers from the passenger window.
Their time together is not limited to missions either. The pair can head out across Leonida together, including skimming across the water on a jetski while dolphins leap nearby, before players head off to cause trouble with either protagonist separately.
Their relationship is also more central to GTA VI than romance has traditionally been in the series. Rockstar senior vice president of narrative Rupert Humphries described the game as "a Bonnie and Clyde-type narrative", while Dazed reports that player choices within their relationship can have repercussions that go deeper than Rockstar’s previous honour-style systems.
However, Rockstar still wants Jason and Lucia to remain distinct characters rather than becoming blank player avatars. "The thing we love about this medium is the way these characters aren’t empty avatars that you can do whatever you want with," Nelson said. “Their story becomes a journey you share with them.” Nelson also said Rockstar wants to "enable as much self-expression as possible" without losing the essence of the characters, leaving room for players to make Jason and Lucia their own, while still keeping their personalities and story intact.
Can you gain weight and build muscle in GTA VI?
Yes, your character can gain weight in the game. GTA VI expands Rockstar’s systems for physically changing its protagonists depending on how players treat them.
Food affects Jason and Lucia’s weight, while exercising can visibly build and tone their muscles. However, the game is apparently keeping track of more than trips to the gym and what they eat. Spend too long away from bed and it can start to show on their features. The same goes for staying on the run from police or heading into a multi-day bender, with their habits eventually leaving visible signs on their faces and bodies.
Dazed compares the idea to systems Rockstar pushed further in Red Dead Redemption 2. Arthur Morgan could head into the wilderness for weeks and return with longer hair and a beard, while his weight could change depending on how well he ate. Bar fights could also leave bruises and scars behind.
GTA VI marks a return and expansion of those kinds of interactive systems. This time, they apply across both Jason and Lucia, with everything from food and exercise to a rough stretch on the run physically showing on the characters themselves.
GTA VI NPCs will be more realistic
Leonida’s population is also getting considerably more attention. Rockstar developed new tools and pipelines specifically for its NPC population, which senior art director for characters Jamie-Lee Lloyd called "the most detailed and varied character population we’ve ever created".
That variety goes well beyond adding more faces. NPCs differ in age, height, and body type, while tattoos, piercings, plastic surgery, and clothing help distinguish them further. Their appearance is also tailored to the part of Leonida they inhabit, from Little Cuba in Vice City to the wilderness around Mount Kalaga.
However, Lloyd said making those characters believable involves much more than appearance. "It’s the combination of how a character looks, moves, interacts, and expresses themselves, brought together through collaboration across multiple teams," he said.
Rockstar has also put serious manpower behind that effort. The company has a branch in Los Angeles dedicated almost entirely to the world of in-game pedestrians, giving some idea of how much work is going into the people simply walking around Leonida. Game writer Michael Wiafe said the aim is for all of those systems to come together into "a landscape that players feel they’ve been dropped into and are made to endlessly roam around in".
How Rockstar researched Miami and Florida for GTA VI
Building Leonida has involved years of research in the real Florida. Different groups of Rockstar employees have visited Miami and surrounding areas over the past decade, while the studio also has a dedicated research team based in the city.
For Wiafe, the goal was not simply to find strange Florida stories and turn them into GTA jokes. "It’s easy to go in with a cynical view and say, ‘Well that’s weird, put it in the game,’ but we couldn’t just stop there," Wiafe said. "We have to bring a sense of discovery to the players too, not just repeat cliches that already exist."
The team also met people whose lives intersect with the worlds GTA VI is depicting. "We will meet with ex-criminals, law enforcement, club promoters, gun dealers and anyone notorious or influential who’ll take our calls," Humphries said. “We hang out, get a feeling for the place, listen to the stories, cross-reference that with books and journalism, and try to get to the heart of which characters will bring the city we are creating to life.” Humphries added that a majority of GTA VI’s characters were born out of that research, giving Rockstar more than just visual references for Leonida.
That attention reaches the streets themselves too. More than 50 real street artists were brought in to create murals for GTA VI, including artwork around Stockyard, an area based on Miami’s Wynwood district.
How will fashion and clothing work in GTA VI?
Fashion is another part of Vice City that Rockstar has treated as its own ecosystem. Miami-based stylist Jillian Carr has worked with the studio since 2023 on an in-game "fashion ecosystem" built around differences in taste, lifestyle, affluence, and individuality.
"Vice City is built around vanity," Carr said. “Between social media, celebrity culture and a constant flow of tourists, appearances carry significant weight, and trend cycles turn over quickly.” That feeds directly into the NPC population. People around Leonida can wear everything from throwback Hawaiian shirts and muddy combat gear to sharp suits and luxury fashion, with clothes reflecting both their surroundings and their lifestyle.
Rockstar is taking a similar approach to GTA VI’s fictional companies. Vice president of 2D/UI design Stu Petri said the studio wants its fashion labels, car companies, shops and advertising campaigns to feel like parts of Leonida’s culture instead of existing only as one-off parody jokes. "Our vision is to build a vibrant, believable culture," Petri said. "These brands reflect the aspirations, aesthetics and lifestyles of the people that inhabit our world’s spaces."
Haircuts and outfits can then become another way players express Jason or Lucia without completely separating them from the characters Rockstar has written.
How does social media work in GTA VI?
GTA VI has working in-game social media feeds, and they appear to do more than simply fill Jason and Lucia’s phones with parody posts. Players can browse them during ordinary gameplay, including while one protagonist is travelling with the other. The feeds can also reflect characters and events happening elsewhere in Leonida.
The rise of rap duo Real Dimez, for example, can be followed through viral social media posts in the game. Rockstar has also used several characters to explore different sides of Miami-inspired music culture. Humphries pointed to Miami bass alongside more recent artists such as Kodak Black and Sexyy Red, while the game moves between house parties, clubs and the more expensive side of South Beach nightlife.
"We were also really interested in how the hip-hop scene in Miami exists in house parties in Overtown, clubs like Booby Trap on the River, and then high-end places on South Beach where bottles can cost thousands of dollars," Humphries said. “We needed characters who could take us through those worlds.” Characters including Boobie Ike, Dre’Quan Priest, and Real Dimez are part of that attempt to connect different parts of Vice City’s music scene, rather than keeping music confined to radio stations.
Rockstar’s overall development team has more than doubled since Red Dead Redemption 2, and the details shared by Dazed offer a much clearer picture of where some of that extra manpower has gone.
GTA VI launches on 19 November, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
