All New GTA 6 Features Revealed By Game Informer - VICE

Game Informer has revealed new details about Grand Theft Auto VI, including hurricanes, over 170 animal species, and a range of activities across Leonida. Here is every new GTA 6 feature Rockstar Games confirmed in the special edition cover story.

Rockstar Games has revealed many new GTA 6 features in the latest Game Informer cover story. The new details include everything from Leonida’s size and six main regions to its weather, wildlife, and side activities. Here are the biggest features revealed so far:

According to Rockstar, Leonida is the largest map the studio has ever created. It’s roughly twice the size of GTA 5’s map. When talking to Game Informer, Rockstar revealed that the world is also more dense, detailed, and interactive, with particular attention given to buildings, rooftops, alleys, and interiors.

However, the biggest reveal is that Leonida is split into six primary regions: Vice City, the Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia, and Mount Kalaga National Park. Excitingly, each region gives players a completely different part of the state to explore with new activities and environments.

Vice City for example, has the beaches, art deco buildings, busy streets, and cruise ship port you might expect from GTA 6’s take on Miami. Those congested roads could also make police chases more difficult. Meanwhile, Grassrivers is Leonida’s version of the Everglades: a sprawling wetland filled with wildlife, including dangerous reptiles.

Rockstar has confirmed that hurricanes and tropical storms can hit Leonida in GTA 6. The studio hasn’t explained how frequently they happen or whether they will play a significant role in the story.

However, storms will bring heavy rain, strong winds, dark clouds, thunder, and lightning, with water visibly running off rooftops and other surfaces.

NEW GTA 6 PHOTOS FROM GAME INFORMER pic.twitter.com/qwP7huRHxL

Weather in GTA 6 will be more localized and persistent, meaning conditions can differ across Leonida. Rockstar has also built a dynamic cloud system that can produce everything from clear winter skies to towering storm clouds and afternoon lightning.

The wind system adds smaller details throughout the world. Strong gusts can stir up debris on rooftops, ripple the water, and move grass in the swamps.

Leonida will be home to more than 170 animal species, including wildlife that has never appeared in a Rockstar game before. That total includes over 60 types of birds, more than 30 land mammals, and a variety of fish and reptiles. Rockstar specifically confirmed manatees, flamingos, pelicans, and alligators.

There will also be several types of sharks, as well as whales, rays, turtles, and jellyfish. According to Rockstar, these sea creatures will have their own distinct ways of moving rather than sharing the same basic animations.

It doesn’t stop there either. The wildlife will have more visual detail, too. Some animals can appear iridescent, translucent, or bioluminescent, while birds will have different feather types. Rockstar has specifically developed new fur systems that let animals’ coats react to their surroundings. Fur can get wet, dirty, matted, or clumped together, with variations in color and coat patterns.

Finally, Game Informer gave us more details about side activities players can take part in across Leonida. While we also got a preview of these in the Netflix Extended look, we now have confirmation of some new ones. Interestingly, it appears that some of the activities are dates that Jason and Lucia can go on together as a couple, such as hiking.

You can read the full GTA 6 Game Informer issue on the website here. Rockstar Games goes into a lot more depth about how they designed Leonida, and why this is their most ambitious game yet.