•As Rockstar 游戏 approaches Nov. 19 for its long-awaited release of bağlantı”>Grand Theft 自动 6, a detailed report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has shed light on the game’s development, budget and design philosophy.
The Oct. 15 deep-dive does not cover story specifics or details about the online component, but it addresses several longstanding rumors surrounding GTA 6’s budget, tone and scale.
GTA 6 did not cost $1.5 billion to make
Rockstar did not disclose a specific figure for GTA 6’s budget. However, head of publishing Jennifer Kolbe “did shoot down a popular rumor that it surpassed the $1.5 billion it cost to build Dubai’s Burj Khalifa,” according to Bloomberg.
Schreier nonetheless asserts that GTA 6 remains the most expensive game ever created, based on the vast number of staff working on it and the many years spent in active development.
The eight-year dev cycle was caught up in Red Dead Redemption 2
Although GTA 5 launched in 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Rockstar did not immediately begin work on its sequel. The initial plan was to develop GTA 6 and bağlantı”>Red Dead Redemption 2 concurrently, but the latter required more manpower as development progressed.
“As that game’s ambitions grew, [development lead Rob] Nelson realized he needed to mobilize most of Rockstar, including the senior leadership, to help finish it. That meant pushing GTA 6 back several years,” Bloomberg reported.
GTA 6 only became the studio’s primary focus after Red Dead Redemption 2 was released. During those eight years, the game was delayed twice and endured a difficult phase Nelson called “a dark period” when the project’s vision remained uncertain.
As the industry contracts, Rockstar is getting bigger
In 2018, Rockstar 游戏 faced criticism for forcing developers to work late nights and weekends to deliver Red Dead Redemption 2 — in no small part due to Schreier’s reporting on the studio’s labor practices during his time at Kotaku.
The company had 2,441 employees across 12 offices worldwide in 2018. Now it employs some 4,711 workers, making it larger than any of its direct competitors.
GTA 6 leans more toward RDR2 realism than GTA 5 absurdity
Schreier notes that Red Dead Redemption 2 “told a much more nuanced story [than GTA 5], with an emphasis on realism sometimes at the expense of fun. GTA 6 tries to find a balance between the two, but it seems to look far more toward [Red Dead 2] for inspiration: a game in which you can still throw $20 bills at strippers and mow down pedestrians, but one that also wants you to empathize with its Bonnie-and-Clyde-inspired protagonists.”
The report suggests players can expect a prestige TV-worthy narrative from GTA 6 despite internet chatter about bağlantı”>in-game cocaine use, bağlantı”>Jason and bağlantı”>Lucia’s nudity.
GTA 6 was going to be bigger than Florida
Confirming a longstanding rumor, Schreier reports that an early codename for GTA 6 was bağlantı”>Project Americas, “because it aimed to feature big swaths of land across both North and South America.” Later in development, that scope narrowed to Miami and its surroundings.
GTA 6 uses AI — but not the bad kind
Rockstar’s latest is shaped by the dynamic relationship between Jason and Lucia. Allowing them to do everything together meant building complex artificial intelligence systems — “the traditional kind, not ChatGPT,” Schreier observed.
Long before figures like Sam Altman declared AI essential technology with potential to destroy humanity, the term referred in game development to human-made systems and scripts governing NPC behavior. Designing a massive game around two people whose relationship ebbs and flows based on player choices took years to develop.
“There’s trepidation about taking that on,” Nelson told Bloomberg. “Then you have certain people advocating for it: ‘We need this. This is a game about a couple. They have to be a couple.’ And so we had to commit to that.”
Rob Nelson, Rockstar development lead
Complex NPCs led to at least one GTA 6 delay
At one point after the first official reveal in 2023, Rockstar leadership realized those NPCs with unique behavior patterns would take far more time and manpower than initially planned.
“The projections they were giving us were horrifying,” Nelson told Bloomberg.
“I think when it became apparent that some areas weren’t going to make it, that’s when we decided to make the shift of date,” head of development Phil Hooker added. “We could hit that schedule, but it won’t be the game we want to make.”
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