- Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier says Rockstar Games went on trips to Miami for research forGrand Theft Auto 6
- Rockstar went on “police ride-alongs” and “wound up hovering over a Beyoncé concert” in a helicopter
- The developers also met people who revealed their past crimes when they learned the team worked on GTA
Rockstar Games did extensive research on Miami for Grand Theft Auto 6 and even encountered people who shared about past crimes when they learned the developers worked on GTA.
Speaking in a new YouTube video about his time at Rockstar North and his behind-the-scenes experience seeing GTA 6 before the general public, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier said he was told about the many trips Rockstar developers, including artists and leadership, made to Miami.
Since Miami and Los Angeles inspired GTA 6‘s Vice City, the team chose to do in-person research. They went on group trips and “went all over the place” for inspiration, even doing “police ride-alongs” and visiting “some scary places.”
“At one point, some of the artists were in a helicopter taking photos of aerial views of the city, and they wound up hovering over a Beyoncé concert,” Schreier said.
Speaking more about the ride-alongs, Rockstar also met tons of “really colorful characters” in Miami who shared their own life experiences with the developers.
Senior vice president of technology Jonathan Ashcroft revealed to Schreier that he spent his 40th birthday at a nightclub during one of these trips and said it was funny because he and some other developers were “these light-skinned Scottish people just like looking totally out of place wandering around this club” and “scrutinizing the lighting instead while everyone else around them is partying.”
Returning to these “colorful characters” Rockstar met, Ashcroft said that they would divulge information about past crimes when they learned the team worked on GTA.
“As soon as they know where you’re from, they just want to tell you every crime they or their friends have ever done,” Ashcroft said.
In the same video, Schreier revealed that Rockstar Games reportedly spent years developing a new weapon interface for the game, but eventually stuck with the classic weapon wheel the series is known for.
