Rockstar Games' approach to GTA 6 has involved far more than photographing Florida landmarks. The studio says its developers have spent years researching the real locations, communities and people that helped inspire Leonida, the fictional setting that includes Vice City.
The research took them from Miami through surrounding towns and the Florida Keys to Key West, while later trips brought the team into closer contact with different sides of life in Florida. Those unusual experiences offer a glimpse at how Rockstar is trying to make its next Grand Theft Auto world feel believable and varied.
GTA 6 is due on 19 November 2026, after a long development cycle that has kept the game under intense attention.
Rockstar's Florida Research Went Beyond Tourist Landmarks
Aaron Garbut, Rockstar's head of development, described the studio's research process in an interview with Love Magazine. He explained that Rockstar begins with a relatively small group travelling to locations, recording what they see and discussing how those observations could eventually translate into the game.
The initial trip involved travelling from Miami through surrounding towns and the Florida Keys to Key West, with the team using the journey to experience the locations and develop ideas for the game.
As development progressed, the research became more detailed. Garbut said, 'We do go in-depth, we hang with locals and we hear lots of stories and learn as much as we can. We travel around with cops and with gang members.'
Garbut said the people Rockstar encountered could sometimes be frightening, while the developers were also exposed to stories and locations that showed them a darker side of the area. 'The people who showed us around were among the nicest we've met,' he said, adding that 'the stories, the places, the details could be terrifying.'
The unusual nature of the trips did not stop with street-level research. On one occasion, Garbut and some of the art directors flew low and fast over mangrove inlets in the Everglades before eventually hovering over a stadium where a Beyoncé concert was taking place. Garbut recalled, 'I think we made the local news the next day.'
The studio's research has also included more conventional excursions. Rockstar senior vice president of narrative Rupert Humphries previously described trips involving night drives with former police officers, visits to nightclubs and strip clubs, time on beaches and further exploration of the Everglades and Florida Keys.
The trips were intended to help the team experience different environments and aspects of life across the region.
Garbut explained that the goal was to create a world that felt convincing rather than simply reproduce individual landmarks. 'We try to build a world that is believable and varied, with depth, so that is the research we need,' he said.
The developers have also gathered smaller details during those trips that could influence elements such as pedestrian conversations, fictional radio shows and advertisements. That means the research is not limited to major locations, with observations from Florida potentially informing the background details players encounter throughout Leonida.
GTA 6 Hype Has Already Produced Its Own Uproar
The game has faced multiple release-date changes, with Rockstar now targeting November 19, 2026. The company has said the additional development time is intended to help it finish the game with the level of polish players have come to expect.
In August, unauthorised GTA 6 gameplay footage and other material appeared online. Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's parent company, sought DMCA subpoenas seeking information about accounts and individuals it believed were connected to the leaks, while Rockstar said the situation had been particularly upsetting for its development team.
The leaks added another layer to an already unusually long wait. Discussion on Reddit has included criticism of Rockstar's slow release of new footage, alongside users defending or accepting the studio's gradual approach.
Rockstar also released a roughly 27-minute extended look at GTA 6, which premiered on Netflix before becoming available through Rockstar's own channels six hours later. Rockstar confirmed the extended look was made available on YouTube and the official GTA VI website following its Netflix debut.
That scrutiny makes Garbut's comments about field research particularly revealing. Rockstar is not claiming that every unusual encounter will appear directly in GTA 6. Instead, his comments indicate that the locations, stories and experiences gathered during those research trips contribute to the material Rockstar uses to construct Leonida.
The result will ultimately be judged by players when GTA 6 arrives. But the research process shows that Rockstar has been trying to capture more than Florida's appearance. It has been documenting the people, stories, environments and unusual moments that could give Vice City and the rest of Leonida their own character.
