Following the massive amount of detail revealed about Grand Theft Auto 6 through Bloomberg’s report, Jason Schreier has offered some more information about the upcoming game with a series of videos. In the latest one of these, Schreier discussed the conversations he had with the development team and how Rockstar Games even began prototyping the upcoming title’s complex NPC system as far back as 2014.
At the time, the studio would have been quite busy with a number of projects. Along with work on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions of Grand Theft Auto 5, it was also working on post-launch support for GTA Online, as well as on Red Dead Redemption 2. Interestingly, some developers had even already begun working on what would eventually become Grand Theft Auto 6, marking a development period of over 11 years.
Among the subjects discussed by Schreier in his new video are how developers on Grand Theft Auto 6 have plenty of creative freedom, allowing artists to add smaller details to the environments they design without having to deal with senior management for approval on every little thing. The company has also seemingly toyed with the idea of opening up an office in Miami to further help it design the GTA 6 map at some point. A key detail is how vice president Mark Tennant had worked on an early prototype for an NPC interaction system back in 2014 and 2015. This system, allowing players to greet and antagonize NPCs they meet in the open world, would start taking on a more fleshed-out form with Red Dead Redemption 2.
On the subject of Grand Theft Auto 6’s long development time, Schreier has reported that the team faced quite a few difficulties between 2019 and 2022. The time frame would also coincide with the global pandemic that would force many countries to go into lockdown. 2022 and 2023 onwards, however, things started really improving for the team, and the game was beginning to take shape.
Interestingly, over the long development period, Rockstar also grew its art production team massively. Noting that Grand Theft Auto 5 had about five or six artists working on the project, Grand Theft Auto 6 now has 65 artists on the team. This massive growth in the team’s size also generally lessened the workload, giving the artists better ways to balance their work and life.
Schreier also confirmed that the Grand Theft Auto 6 Extended Look showcase – originally released as a timed exclusive on Netflix before being released to YouTube – was Rockstar’s own idea, with the pitch first being made by marketing lead at the studio, Mark Adamson. Finishing an early cut of the Extended Look was a major moment for the team, with head of publishing Jennifer Kolbe getting quite emotional after seeing it for the first time.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19th. For more details, take a look at how the title will have “hundreds” of interior zones that players can explore. Also check out our analysis of the recent launch trailer while you’re at it.
