Rockstar joined gang members and cops for GTA 6 research trips in Florida

Rockstar Games developers traveled across Florida with both police officers and gang members as part of extensive research for GTA 6.

With GTA 6 taking players back to Vice City and the wider state of Leonida, Rockstar spent years researching the real locations and communities that inspired its fictional version of Florida.

Rockstar head of development Aaron Garbut has now revealed just how far the studio went, including spending time with people from very different sides of Florida life.

Speaking to Love Magazine ahead of GTA 6’s release, Garbut explained that Rockstar begins its games with research trips before gradually expanding the number of developers involved.

A small group initially traveled from Miami through surrounding towns and the Florida Keys to Key West, recording locations and discussing how they could translate them into the game.

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As development progressed, however, the team began getting a much closer look at the communities it wanted to represent.

GTA devs encountered “scary people” during research

“We do go in-depth, we hang with locals and we hear lots of stories and learn as much as we can,” Garbut said. “We travel around with cops and with gang members.”

Garbut said some of the people Rockstar encountered could be “equally scary,” while the developers were also exposed to stories and locations that showed them a darker side of the area.

“The people who showed us around were among the nicest we’ve met,” he added, “the stories, the places, the details could be terrifying.”

Rockstar Games

The research wasn’t limited to the streets either. During one trip, members of the Rockstar team flew low over mangrove inlets in the Everglades before eventually hovering above a stadium while a Beyoncé concert was taking place.

“I think we made the local news the next day,” Garbut recalled.

“We try to build a world that is believable and varied, with depth, so that is the research we need,” he explained. They’ve also explained that the map is so big, the story itself won’t cover it all.

The developers also recorded smaller details from their trips that could ultimately influence everything from pedestrian conversations to fictional radio shows and advertisements.

It means even some of the more bizarre encounters Rockstar had while exploring Florida could ultimately find their way into Leonida when GTA 6 releases.