Rockstar artists have worked on GTA 6's map for 11 years, co-head says narrower roads created 'ripple effects'

Schreier, who visited Rockstar North and published a behind-the-scenes article, said in a YouTube video that a few Rockstar artists have worked on GTA 6 since 2015, if not earlier. That year, he said, Rockstar began planning the game and sent staff to Miami to start work on the map. Rockstar typically plans the map first for its open-world games, he said.

The map is twice as big as GTA 5's world and more densely populated and interactive, according to Schreier. Full-scale development of GTA 6 began around 2018 and was originally planned to be made alongside Red Dead Redemption 2, but pre-production began earlier. As top leadership moved staff to Red Dead Redemption 2 to support that game's ambitious systems, a few artists continued working on GTA 6's map.

Aaron Garbut, art director, current head of development and co-studio head at Rockstar North, told Schreier that “the roads are significantly narrower in GTA 6 than they were in GTA 5,” a detail fans may have noticed in trailers. Schreier said the narrower roads and denser traffic were intended to create a more realistic map and make the game less like a racing game with wide spaces to speed through, as in GTA 5.

The choice created technical challenges that Schreier called “ripple effects.” Garbut told him, “All these things sort of come [back] to bite you later,” because narrower, denser roads required the team to add more surrounding buildings. Artists have worked on that concept for 11 years, Schreier said.

GTA 6 is scheduled to launch on Nov. 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S. Rockstar recently released a cinematic launch trailer that offers a deeper look at the game's story. A new report claims the PC version could launch in early 2027.