Schreier's GTA 6 Follow-Ups: The NPC System That Almost Didn't Happen, the Weapon Wheel, and an 11-Year Map

After his Bloomberg feature (our breakdown), Jason Schreier posted a YouTube video, "Some New Things I Learned About Grand Theft Auto VI And Rockstar," with extra details from his Rockstar North visit. Below is each point, credited to the outlet that reported it. These are Schreier's accounts of what Rockstar staff told him, not Rockstar announcements, unless we say otherwise.

The NPC interaction system was nearly kept quiet

Per GamesRadar+, Schreier says Rockstar's vice president of animation, Mark Tennant, prototyped the idea around 2014–2015: instead of the aim button only pointing a gun at someone, you could use it to greet or antagonize them. Phil Hooker initially didn't want it shown to Rob Nelson, because Nelson is known for wanting to "do the world," and the system meant a lot of extra work. When Nelson did see it, he reportedly said it would "revolutionize the way our games and our worlds work." It became Red Dead Redemption 2's system. Insider Gaming and GamingBolt carry the same account.

On the record: Nelson separately told IGN that GTA VI's NPC interaction system is "returning and evolved from Red Dead Redemption 2" (quoted by GamesRadar+).

Years of weapon wheel experiments, then back to the wheel

TechRadar and TDGN report that Rockstar spent "months, if not years" trying "a million different things" to replace the weapon wheel, aiming for a more realistic, Red Dead-style limited loadout. TDGN lists trays, webs and no interface at all. In Schreier's words, "they just wound up back at a weapon wheel." TDGN notes Rockstar hasn't said how many guns you can carry.

Map planning since 2015

TechRadar quotes Schreier saying a few Rockstar artists have worked on GTA VI "for more than 11 years since 2015." 2015 is when Rockstar began visiting Miami and planning the map, which it always does first. Most staff then moved to help finish Red Dead Redemption 2, while a few kept working on the map. That's early planning, not 11 years of full production.

Miami research trips

TechRadar reports Schreier's account of group trips to Miami: police ride-alongs, visits to "some scary places," and artists in a helicopter shooting aerial photos who ended up over a Beyoncé concert. Senior VP of technology Jonathon Ashcroft told Schreier that locals, once they learned the team made GTA, "just want to tell you every crime they or their friends have ever done."

Narrower roads, more buildings

Per TechRadar, head of development Aaron Garbut told Schreier "the roads are significantly narrower in GTA 6 than they were in GTA 5." That had a "ripple effect": narrower, busier streets meant building more around them. "All these things sort of come [back] to bite you later," Garbut said. IGN's preview also describes narrower streets and denser traffic.

GTA VI launches Nov 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.