By Grand Theft Auto 6 could have been a far more ambitious game that arrived years earlier — if history had played out differently. A new Bloomberg report, summarized by GameSpot, reveals that Rockstar’s blockbuster started life with a much grander vision before scope cuts and development shifts reshaped it into the game fans will finally play this November.
The report traces GTA 6’s origins back to 2015, when a small Rockstar team traveled to Miami to begin planning the project under the codename Project Americas.
GTA 6 (Credits: GameSpot)
A Continent-Spanning Vision
At that earliest stage, the plan was staggering: GTA 6 would span big swaths of land across both North and South America. That ambition was eventually pared back to focus on Miami and its surrounding areas — a fictional Leonida standing in for Florida, with Vice City anchoring the map alongside other locations across the state.
Smaller does not mean small. The final map is reportedly three times bigger than the one in Rockstar’s 2018 western, Red Dead Redemption II, making it one of the most expansive open worlds the studio has ever built.
Red Dead Redemption II Ate GTA 6’s Schedule
The report also explains why the game took so long. Rockstar originally planned to develop GTA 6 concurrently with Red Dead Redemption II, which would have brought it to market much sooner. But as RDR2’s own scope kept growing, Rockstar’s Rob Nelson realized he needed to pull more staff from the studio’s network to get the western out the door in 2018.
That decision pushed GTA 6 back several years. The silver lining, Nelson noted, is that the work poured into RDR2 would “pay off when we get to” GTA 6. He also pointed out a broader shift in how Rockstar operates: where the company once developed multiple games concurrently across its offices, its network of teams now works on one project together before moving to the next.
Money, Denials, and Delays
The report touches on the game’s staggering finances. Rockstar denied the rumor that GTA 6 cost $1.5 billion to develop — though it offered no actual figure. Either way, the money is flowing: the game has reportedly generated $600 million in pre-sale revenue, a number that could climb to $2 billion before it even launches.
Getting to launch has been a saga of its own. GTA 6 was originally set for 2025, then delayed to May 2026, and then again to November 2026. When Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick heard about the second delay, he reportedly told Rockstar: “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
As it stands, GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S — unless it gets delayed again, which Rockstar has pointedly not ruled out.
Also Read: Rockstar Denies GTA 6 Cost More Than $1.5 Billion — But It’s Still the Most Expensive Game Ever Made | Rockstar Says You Won’t Have to Wait Another 8 Years After GTA 6 for Its Next Game
Source: GameSpot — read the full story there.
