Edge’s GTA 6 cover story, on sale today in issue 430, adds a smell system and a Criminal Profile scale running from “Professional” to “Irredeemable”. It also brings working buses and trains, and a map Rockstar now compares with three of its games combined. Simon Parkin wrote it after watching Rob Nelson play the current build for about 90 minutes on PS5. The night before, South Park aired a short clip of new GTA 6 footage, credited to Rockstar.
Jason recoils from a bad smell without a scene written for it
Aaron Garbut describes entering a house a dog had trashed during one of his own play sessions. Rockstar first built a reaction to an unpleasant smell for one piece of content, then turned it into a system, so other places can cause different levels of disgust. Jason grimaced and recoiled as he walked in, though no scene was written for that house.
Criminal Profile runs from Professional to Irredeemable
The Criminal Profile tracks how you play on a scale from “Professional” to “Irredeemable”, shown with angel and devil icons, and Rockstar says it will influence how Jason and Lucia’s story unfolds. We had the name, Rockstar’s line that a low profile does not mean bad, and the logo that shatters when it drops far enough. The scale’s two ends and the icons are new.
Jason and Lucia’s closeness sits on a four-point scale that usually rises with time spent together, such as walks, cycling, the gym or driving. Asked whether the pair can marry, Nelson would neither confirm nor deny it.
Nearly as big as GTA IV, GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined
Edge repeats that the map is roughly twice the size of GTA V’s. Rockstar adds that the total landmass, Vice City and the surrounding areas included, is nearly as large as the playable maps of GTA IV, GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined. Garbut says there are “an order of magnitude more interiors” than in earlier games. Edge gives around 600,000 animations and about 900 staff at Rockstar North in Edinburgh. IGN, citing the GTA VI O’Clock podcast’s account of the print issue, reports that Leonida opens up relatively early rather than being unlocked through the story.
Pedestrians react to how you carry a gun
Pedestrians carry traits covering temperament, aggression, where they are, what they have seen and how you have treated them. A shotgun held in your hands disturbs people more than one slung over your back; crowds back away or scatter, some challenge you, and dropping the weapon buys some leeway before a wanted level. Some drivers flee a carjacking and others are armed and fight back. The Los Angeles team working on pedestrians was first reported by Dazed in August.
Longer nights, and storms that can damage aircraft
The day and night cycle has been extended, with longer sunsets and nights; Nelson says GTA V’s timings made everything feel too fast at the new level of detail. On weather, Garbut says: “This game is much more granular.” Clouds move on their own with wind, humidity, fog, time and season, storms can be seen forming, and roads and buildings change as rain falls and dries. Land can shelter water from wind for boats, storms buffet aircraft and can lightly damage them, and pedestrians look for shelter. Game Informer covered the localised weather and tropical storms in September.
Buses and trains run to timetable, and Scooter Bros brings your car
Bus and train networks are fully working. Phil Hooker, who shares the head of development title with Nelson and Garbut, says he has memorised all the routes: “I’m obsessed with making sure they always turn up.” Every vehicle shows a fuel gauge and an engine health readout. For a modest fee, the Scooter Bros phone app delivers your car within seconds, and the rider leaves on a scooter. IGN links the name to the 2008 GTA IV “scooter brothers” clip from FourPlayerPodcast. Your whole arsenal is kept in the boot.
Hold-ups, car thefts for fences, stinger strips and a K9 unit
Jason and Lucia raise money between missions by holding up gas stations and jewellery stores, or by stealing cars for fences. The WAINK app lists the models fences want, with their security and tracking features. High-end cars ping their location to police, fences often run signal blockers at the drop-off, and part of the payment depends on the car’s condition when it arrives.
In Nelson’s demo, police laid a stinger strip he failed to spot at night, and a K9 unit pinned Jason down. After a botched robbery he fled on a stolen motorcycle with Lucia riding pillion, switching characters to hand the driving to the AI. A group in a customised 4×4 also challenged him to a street race, one of what Edge calls the world’s semi-scripted encounters.
Toronto led population research; the Miami trip was in 2015
Rockstar Toronto took a leading role in world population and research, and Rockstar San Diego helped drive ambient and interactive events. Nelson led a small group to Miami in 2015 to look at what a return to Vice City could be. On release, Nelson told Edge: “It’s ready.”
South Park aired new footage credited to Rockstar
“Guinea Pig on a Stick”, season 29 episode 4 of South Park, aired on Comedy Central on Wednesday 28 October with a short GTA 6 clip. The end credits read: “Grand Theft Auto VI footage courtesy of Rockstar Games, Inc.”
The clip is set on a crowded Vice City beach. Jason wears a black vest, brown shorts, an orange cap, white trainers and short white socks; Lucia wears a black top and a sarong and appears to be barefoot, and both have sunglasses on. A bare-chested man in green shorts is walking his dog, which stops to poop, and he picks it up in a small black bag. As he walks away, Jason hits him with the food he is eating, and the man drops the bag. Jason picks it up and throws it at him, and the bag and its contents seem to break apart on impact.
In the episode, the character presenting the clip jokes that the poop is a weapon. The footage shows Jason picking up and throwing two different objects, and a pedestrian cleaning up after his dog. GTA 6 launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on 19 November, 21 days from now. Our GTA 6 hub carries everything confirmed so far.
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