•Rockstar Oyunlar has revealed that Grand Theft Otomatik 6 was originally developed under the codename Project Americas, with plans to cover large areas of land across both North and South America before being scaled down to Miami and its surrounding regions.
The details emerged from a wide-ranging interview Bloomberg conducted with Rockstar, which traced the project’s origins alongside key moments in its development: delays, leaks, trailer releases and more.
Project Americas aimed to feature big swaths of land across both North and South America
Bloomberg reporting on Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson
Bloomberg reported that Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson took a group of staff to Miami in 2015 for the game’s first research trip. The original plan was to develop Project Americas alongside Red Dead Redemption 2, but as the western project grew in scope and ambition, Project Americas was pushed back several years.
The landscape changed significantly after Red Dead Redemption 2’s release. Rockstar nearly doubled its size, growing from 2,441 employees to 4,711 across 12 offices. Co-founder Dan Houser, who wrote many of the previous GTA games, also left the company, prompting promotions for Nelson, Aaron Garbut and Phil Hooker into head of development roles.
By 2019, Rockstar had established the skeleton of GTA 6 along with its dual-protagonist hook featuring Jason and Lucia. But more granular details took longer to develop, particularly when Covid-19 forced staff to work from home.
“Trying to keep a team together through that is really challenging,” Nelson said.
The interview also addressed the extreme crunch Rockstar worked through on Red Dead Redemption 2, something Eurogamer’s Tom Phillips revealed in an investigation. Rockstar acknowledged the issue during the Bloomberg conversation, with Jennifer Kolbe, head of publishing, describing it as “a real moment for Rockstar to look at itself.”
We all looked at each other and said, ‘We’re not doing it again like this.’ It’s not been perfect, but it’s certainly better than Red Dead 2 was.
Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar head of publishing
Kolbe added: “Anytime I say we haven’t crunched, someone is going to say, ‘I did.’ And I don’t want to get into arguments with individual teams or individual people. But I think we did things differently, and I’m proud of that.”
Bloomberg reportedly spoke to dozens of Rockstar employees who “mostly expressed positive sentiment,” acknowledging improvements in areas such as crunch and the removal of managers described as abusive or difficult to work with.
However, Rockstar remains embroiled in an employment tribunal in Scotland after firing 34 employees—31 from its Rockstar North office—for what it alleged was gross misconduct. The dismissed employees have called the firings union-busting. The tribunal is expected to conclude at the end of the week.
As GTA 6 began to take shape, Rockstar suffered one of its biggest setbacks when a phishing attack gained access to the company’s Slack in 2022 and leaked unfinished footage of the game.
It feels like somebody’s wading through your dirty washing. It’s like they’re inside your head. You see your early work out there. Nobody’s ever supposed to see that.
Aaron Garbut
Development delays meant Rockstar needed more time to complete the game. Its first trailer, aired in 2023, promised a 2025 release, but Rockstar moved this date to May 2026 before realising it still wouldn’t finish on schedule.
Kolbe recalled informing Strauss Zelnick, boss of owner Take-Two, about the further delay:
I think he said, ‘You’re kidding. Please tell me you’re kidding.’ But once we talked through why, he got it.
Jennifer Kolbe
“I think we are really lucky that he is as reasonable as he is,” she added.
Rockstar did not comment on the ongoing leaks of GTA 6 footage attributed to Cyberleek during the interview. The article closed with Rockstar vowing its next release wouldn’t take another eight years, with Phil Hooker saying the engine, tools and team built during this project would allow faster development.
GTA 6 is now due for release on 19 November on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Seri S/X, with a PC version reportedly expected in Q1 next year.
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