PlayStation News summarized a Bloomberg report on the challenges of developing GTA 6 and noted that Rockstar Games began planning it in 2015, under the name Project Americas. According to their publication, the project initially considered large regions of North America and South America but later scaled it down. The development of Red Dead Redemption 2 took priority for several years before Rockstar concentrated its resources on a single game. The company's workforce increased from 2,441 employees in 2018 to 4,711 in August 2026, spread across 12 offices. The publication indicated that Rob Nelson, Aaron Garbut, and Phil Hooker shared the main creative and development responsibilities, and that the story by Jason Duval and Lucía Caminos began to take shape in late 2019. It described the early years as particularly difficult due to the lack of a clear vision and stated that by 2022, sufficient systems had been integrated for the team to better understand the complete game. It also noted that GTA 6 would leverage advancements from Red Dead Redemption 2 and that Rockstar had discussed how to balance realism and fun, even in everyday activities. PlayStation News wrote that Jason and Lucía could share activities outside of missions and that players could send messages to Lucía to meet with her. According to their summary, during a test, Phil Hooker spent about two hours exploring the world without starting the intended mission; a traffic accident led to fights, thefts, and police chases. The publication attributed the delays to the complexity of the project, system integration, and the time needed to achieve the desired quality. It added that Strauss Zelnick was surprised by the second delay but supported the decision, and that the pandemic affected, among other things, motion capture and acting sessions. The publication also noted that some veteran developers left Rockstar due to frustration with the slow progress and that the leaks from September 2022 were an invasive and emotionally difficult experience for the team. According to their summary, in 2024 the company imposed five days a week of in-person work and restricted remote access to development tools for security reasons. Rockstar reportedly improved planning, hired more staff, and established compensations or breaks for overtime to reduce crunch, although it had not completely disappeared. Management also reportedly said it would recognize a union if workers decided to organize. PlayStation News indicated that the new GTA Online experience was scheduled for 2027, although it still did not have an official date. It added that during Schreier’s visit to Rockstar North, the team was focused on fixing bugs, and internal indicators showed that they were resolving more issues than remained pending. #GTA6 #RockstarGames #Videojuegos (translated)
