Rockstar developers continue to share details about Grand Theft Auto VI. In an interview in the new issue of LOVE magazine, open world director James Horton talked about his approach to developing open worlds in games. According to him, the developers hope to create a “game world without context” where almost any environmental element can attract the player’s attention.
In a sense, this game has no “background”. There’s just the foreground, you don’t notice it right now.
He said Rockstar wants the world to keep moving whether players are watching what’s going on or busy with the main mission. The developer gave the example of a busy street. While moving, players must hear snippets of hundreds of different conversations. At the same time, there is more going on around you than just sounds – if the player turns his attention to a specific person or event, it should stand out and attract his attention.
Rockstar says that in GTA 6, environments are more than just a collection of decorations between story missions. Events, passers-by, and various details exist at the same time, forming different situations depending on where the player observes.
In an interview with LOVE magazine, the developers also talked about the existence of political campaigns, advertising, phone messages, and talk radio shows in a world separate from the main plot. At the same time, the studio noted that the game relies on satire and deliberately exaggerates certain features of modern life.
A full LOVE magazine article with details on Grand Theft Auto VI will be released next week, October 5th. Let us remind you that GTA 6 itself is scheduled to release on November 19, 2026 for Xbox Series X | S and Playstation 5.