GTA 6 behind the scenes - Weapon wheel changes, internal struggles, art team expansion & more
(Courtesy : Rockstar Games)
The game is all set to launch on November 19, 2026
Very fresh behind-the-scenes details have been revealed for GTA 6 by Jason Schreier in his latest YouTube video. It tells the details about how Rockstar made the most anticipated game of all time and what challenges they faced during development.
The video highlights the game’s development, early design experiments, and how the project finally came to life. Let’s check out some more details in this article.
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GTA 6 weapon wheel
In the video, Jason reported that at one point Rockstar Games thought about removing the iconic weapon wheel. During development, the studio experimented with an entirely different weapon wheel selection system.
But then they decided to return to the classic weapon wheel system that is very familiar to all GTA players.
Rockstar’s artist has also been working for more than 11 years. They did pretty extensive research in Miami, which became the inspiration for Leonida and Vice City.
Also Read: GTA 6 launch day is officially one month away
Major development challenges
In the video, Jason also reported that 2019 to 2022 was one of the toughest periods for GTA 6 development.
The developers were trying to find the right balance between highly realistic gameplay introduced in RDR2 and faster & more accessible gameplay that has defined the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
There were many creative disagreements that slowed down the development progress, with some developers leaving the project during that time. But things started to improve around 2022 and 2023.
Art team expansion for GTA 6 & Extended Look
Another notable detail in the video was the expansion of Rockstar’s art production team. GTA 5 only had around five to six artists working on certain production tasks.
But for GTA 6, the team expanded to reportedly 65 developers. This larger workforce helped them to improve productivity and distribute the workload more efficiently.
The report also notes that GTA 6 has smaller streets and a heavier amount of traffic than GTA 5, which makes Leonida feel denser and more realistic.
The studio, meanwhile, has been working hard to hone the presentation of its newly released Extended Look video for Netflix, and it says the idea originated from Rockstar’s marketing head, Mark Adamson.
How long has GTA 6 been in development?
According to the latest behind-the-scenes details, some Rockstar developers have worked on GTA 6 for over 11 years, beginning with map creation and Miami research.
Did Rockstar almost remove the weapon wheel in GTA 6?
Yes. Reports claim Rockstar tested a new weapon selection interface before ultimately deciding to keep the traditional weapon wheel.
Why was GTA 6’s development difficult?
Between 2019 and 2022, Rockstar reportedly struggled to balance the realism of Red Dead Redemption 2 with GTA’s classic gameplay style, leading to slower progress and internal disagreements.
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