Grand Theft Auto VI: Years of Research Built Its Virtual Florida
Rockstar North began research trips to Miami in 2015 for Grand Theft Auto VI, now set in the fictional state of Leonida. Lead developer Rob Nelson says the team studied the city’s places, history and contrasts before shaping the world and the story around it.
Rockstar North began research trips to Miami in 2015 for Grand Theft Auto VI, using the city as a foundation for a virtual Florida shaped by years of research built into the game’s world.
The game takes place in Leonida, a fictional state modeled on Florida, with Vice City as its fictional version of Miami. Rockstar says its setting comes first: developers study a real place before deciding what players will do there and what story to tell.
Miami research shaped Leonida
Rob Nelson, a lead developer on Grand Theft Auto VI, said the early trips were about absorbing the city before organizing more formal research. “Before you’re doing hyper-organised research trips, you’re immersing yourself in the place and its history, the vibe of it,” he said.
The team looked at physical locations where characters might move and the experiences they might have. Nelson also pointed to the contrast between different parts of Miami as an influence on the game’s setting.
Developers made the trips “semi-undercover,” Nelson said, though a group of visitors could still draw attention. “If you have a bunch of dorks going through a terrifying neighbourhood, you do stick out a bit.”
Rockstar’s approach puts the environment ahead of the plot. The setting informs the story and characters, this time a criminal couple on the run named Jason and Lucia.
Small details fill the game world
Leonida’s detail spans architecture and geography as well as street art, clothing, flyers on café walls and the contents of refrigerators. Nelson demonstrated character animations, including how Jason eats a hot dog and takes bites of a doughnut while sipping a beer at a gas station.
Even movement reflects that attention. When Jason runs while carrying a six-pack of beer, he shifts it into the crook of his arm as liquid sloshes inside the bottles.
Nelson said the scale of the game makes it impossible for one person to keep every part in mind. “The game is so vast that no one person could hold enough of it in their heads,” he said.
Almost 5,000 people worked on Grand Theft Auto VI. The project’s senior decision-makers each oversee areas suited to their experience and interests.
The game is due out next week, more than 10 years after the first exploratory trips to Miami. Rockstar North’s demonstration showed a world built from citywide geography down to the placement of a security guard’s feet.
