Everything We Learned From Game Informer's Exclusive GTA 6 Preview

Rockstar Games has revealed a wealth of new GTA 6 details as part of an extensive 14-page Game Informer cover story, including new information about Leonida, Vice City, the game's advanced weather systems, wildlife and more with 12 never before seen screenshots.

Game Informer's latest cover story is dedicated to GTA VI, with Senior Associate Editor Marcus Stewart speaking to several senior developers at Rockstar Games about the enormous task of bringing Vice City and the wider state of Leonida to life.

The feature includes interviews with Rockstar North Co-Studio Head and Head of Development Aaron Garbut, Senior Vice President of Narrative Rupert Humphries, Senior Vice President of Environment Art Paul MacPherson, Vice President of Art for Lighting and Rendering Owen Shepherd, and Vice President of Dynamic Art Michael Kane.

Across 14 pages, Rockstar discusses everything from Leonida's size and environments to its advanced weather systems, wildlife and the extensive research undertaken in Florida during development.

There are also 12 previously unseen GTA 6 screenshots, giving us fresh looks at the game's locations, characters, wildlife and weather.

GTA 6's Map and the State of Leonida

Aaron Garbut tells Game Informer that Leonida is Rockstar's biggest world by some distance, around twice the size of GTA V's map.

It is split into six primary regions: Vice City, the Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga National Park.

Garbut is more interested in density than square miles. Interiors were a particular focus:

"We obsessed about every part – the rooftops, the alleys, the internals and everything in between to the point we hit a critical mass with the numbers of our interiors, and you start to feel the buildings are more real inside and out. This world is a cohesive whole with the density of content and a hand-crafted quality to every bit." 

He also explains how the studio dealt with the expectations around the project:

"As the pressure for us on this project is huge, we dealt with that by doing our best to overdeliver. Normally you compromise scale for detail or detail for interaction, but with this project we went the other way – everything is dialed up – detail, scope, breadth, scale, interaction and density. I don't think we have ever created anything close to this before."

Outside the cities, the feature describes ATV trails, mud parks, demolition derbies, mountain biking and motocross, farms and ranches, golf courses, bass fishing, swamps, beaches, abandoned tourist attractions and industrial areas, with a more rural stretch of countryside to the north of the state.

GTA 6's Advanced Weather System

One of the biggest subjects covered by Game Informer is GTA 6's weather. Rockstar has developed what the magazine describes as an "advanced weather system" designed to recreate Florida's "less sunny" side.

Weather is the biggest single subject in the feature. Rockstar has rebuilt its weather system so that conditions vary from one part of the map to another and persist after the weather has moved on.

In practice, that means standing in sunshine while a storm pours down in the distance, then driving over after it has passed to find puddles and wet surfaces still on the ground. Rainbows can appear after a shower under the right lighting conditions.

Shepherd explained how the system was re-engineered:

"We have re-engineered our weather system to make everything much more localized and persistent, and really wanted the world to feel dynamically solid and achieve a sense of scale we haven't felt before. The world features new fully dynamic cloudscapes that roll across the map; these give us a broad spectrum of weather, from the clear blue skies of a Miami winter to the vertiginous cumulonimbus clouds with sporadic lightning that you see most afternoons in the Floridian summer and autumn."

Tropical storms and hurricanes are confirmed. Shepherd described what a full storm looks like in-game:

"Heavy clouds, strong winds, dense atmospherics, and a lot of rain combine so that everything is dripping wet, water is gushing off roof edges and lampposts, thunder rumbles, and flashes of lightning light up the clouds dramatically."

Wind has its own simulation, including "offshore breezes after sunset, convectional updrafts, and occlusion from buildings". Shepherd added that "hair and debris will swirl around on rooftops; gusts of wind will blow ripples over the water surface and bend the grass in swamps."

It's important to note that Game Informer does not say how often hurricanes occur or whether they play any part in missions or the story, so for now they are confirmed as weather rather than as gameplay.

Wildlife Across Leonida

Leonida is home to more than 170 animal species, including over 60 types of bird and more than 30 land mammals. Several have never appeared in a Rockstar game before.

Native species confirmed include alligators, manatees, flamingos and pelicans. Rockstar has also recreated Florida's invasive arrivals, with green iguanas, cane toads, feral cats, armadillos and rhesus macaque monkeys all present. Scuba diving takes players underwater, where sharks, whales, rays, turtles and jellyfish each have their own behaviours.

Rockstar has built on its Red Dead Redemption work with new rendering for iridescence, bioluminescence, translucency and feather types, along with new hair and fur systems. Fur reacts to contact with characters and to the environment, including dirt matting, clumping, wet coats and colour variation between individual animals.

Red Dead Redemption 2's rarity system also returns. Certain animals can be tracked and are categorised as Rare, Discoverable or Legendary, although Rockstar is keeping the identities of the harder-to-find creatures secret for now.

One of the new screenshots shows a character on a quad bike with a scoped rifle on his back watching deer at a forest stream. 

Recreating Florida and Miami

Rockstar has made repeated research trips to Florida over the course of development. Humphries told Game Informer the aim was to experience the state as fully as possible:

"We go and try to experience everything, from riding around areas at night with ex-cops, to going to strip clubs and nightclubs, spending time on the beach, in the Everglades, down in the Keys, and beyond."

That research shows most clearly in Leonida's population. Game Informer describes NPCs with more diverse body types and distinct physical features than any previous Rockstar game, with variation in muscle tone, weight distribution and height, skin detail including freckles, moles and tan lines, and tattoo styles adapted to the different communities and regions of the state. Rockstar has a dedicated team working solely on NPC dialogue.

Humphries said the story is designed to move players through as much of that world as possible:

"We don't have time to take you everywhere, but we want you to be able to explore and get a feel for most of the places, cultures, and vibes. This game and its stories really thrive in an environment where you have rich people and poor people right next door to each other. And crime and corruption is the thread that pulls everyone together."

Vice City

Vice City is the densest part of Leonida and the area where Garbut's focus on interiors is most visible. The new screenshots give us the clearest look yet at the city itself.

A night-time shot of Downtown shows searchlights sweeping up from the Sahara Arena, the game's version of Miami's Kaseya Center, which is the same building Rockstar is currently fitting with its real-world "Welcome to Vice City" rooftop sign. A waterfront Ferris wheel and marina sit along the shoreline, with a plane passing over the skyline.

Other images show the beaches, a biker bar with a pool table and a convenience store robbery, with Jason stood over an unconscious shopkeeper and an open till.

Jason and Lucia

The relationship between Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos is left to the player. The pair can remain partners in crime and friends, or the relationship can become romantic, although you will need to "put in the work" for the latter.

Romance is entirely optional, carries no gameplay benefit either way and only changes certain story elements slightly. Players can switch between the two characters at "almost" any time, either playing together or splitting up to do their own thing.

Activities across the state, from hiking and the gym to a trip to the zoo, double as time the pair can spend together.

12 New GTA 6 Screenshots

The feature is accompanied by 12 new screenshots supplied by Rockstar, showing sights and citizens from across Leonida.

They include distant storms over the Leonida Keys, wildlife in the Grassrivers, a crop duster over farmland, a seaplane flying towards a storm front and activity on the state's beaches.

You can view all 12 of the new screenshots in our gallery below.

More GTA 6 Details From Game Informer

A number of smaller details are also confirmed in the story:

• Vehicle theft varies by vehicle. Some can be taken the old-fashioned way, others need "specialised tools", and some carry expensive security systems and trackers.
• Fast travel returns through a ride-share app, and you can talk to other passengers on the journey.
• The in-game phone lets you scroll social media feeds.
• Six-star wanted levels return alongside the Heat system, where police build a picture of you from your appearance and where you were seen, so changing your look helps lose them.
• Confirmed activities include base jumping, billiards, gyms, kayaking, mini golf, scuba diving, street and off-road racing, zoos, airboating and jet skiing.

Game Informer's GTA 6 feature appears in Issue 382. The digital edition is available to subscribers, while physical copies featuring exclusive Jason and Lucia artwork created by Rockstar Games will be available to subscribers and selected bookstores and newsstands.

GTA 6 is scheduled to launch for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19, 2026.