Edge magazine was invited to Rockstar North to watch 90 minutes of GTA VI. This video walks through everything the magazine reported, in ten chapters.
The visit
Edge issue 430 went on sale on October 29 with GTA VI on the cover. About 900 people work at Rockstar North in Edinburgh, where a slogan in the lobby says paranoia is good. Co-studio head Rob Nelson played the current build for 90 minutes, with no script.
The world
Rockstar says Leonida is nearly as big as GTA IV, GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined. The bigger change is density: Aaron Garbut says there are an order of magnitude more interiors. Houses have people living in them. In one, Jason pulled a face at the smell of a mess a dog had left behind, without anyone scripting it: a disgust reaction built for one mission had become a system.
The people
Rockstar set up a team in Los Angeles just to make Leonida’s people feel like individuals, with around 600,000 animations. Every pedestrian gets traits, like temperament and aggression, plus what they’ve seen and how you treated them.
Weather
Clouds move with the wind and storms build in the distance. Roads get wet and dry at different speeds, and a storm can damage a plane.
Crime and police
The police build a report on you: your description, your clothes, your weapon and camera footage. You escape by changing that: split up, change your clothes or drop the weapon.
Criminal Profile
The new Criminal Profile runs from Professional to Irredeemable and changes how Jason and Lucia’s story unfolds.
Jason and Lucia
Their closeness is measured on a four-point scale. Can they marry? Nelson won’t confirm or deny it.
Cars
Some drivers fight back when you steal their car, and newer, expensive cars can have a tracker.
Life in Leonida
Kids in a lifted 4x4 bullied Nelson into a street race. There are working buses and trains, and one Rockstar lead has memorized every bus route.
How it was made
In 2015, Nelson led a small team to Miami to research a return to Vice City. Rockstar held back on the story until Red Dead Redemption 2 was finished, and teams in Toronto and San Diego led parts of the world. One Rockstar lead told Edge they’ve built a pyramid on Everest.
The full story by Simon Parkin is in Edge issue 430.
GTA VI launches November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Pre-load opens November 12.
