In a 14-page Game Informer preview, Rockstar was asked whether GTA 6 would feature central Florida locations like Disney World, Orlando, or NASA's Space Center. Rockstar senior vice president of environment art Paul MacPherson said the team may not include those exact locations, though everything is geared toward delivering the full Florida experience. GTA 6 launches on November 19 on PS5 and Xbox.
Rockstar has confirmed to Game Informer that GTA 6 will not include spoof versions of Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, or Florida's "Space Coast" around Cape Canaveral. Jack McPherson said the team evaluates landscapes, towns, structures, and landmarks before distilling a list, but the game will still deliver the "full Florida experience" in other ways. GTA 6 is set in Vice City, a stand-in for Miami, roughly a 230-mile, four-hour drive from Orlando.
Pure Xbox rounded up five notable details about GTA 6 from Game Informer's 14-page cover story. The map is Rockstar's biggest yet at twice the size of GTA 5, with six primary regions: Vice City, the Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga National Park. The weather system was re-engineered to be more localised and persistent, with an updated wind system, dynamic cloudscapes, tropical storms, hurricanes and rainbows, while the game features over 170 animal species and brings back six-star wanted levels alongside a new Heat system.
Game Informer's exclusive cover story reveals that Grand Theft Auto VI's Leonida will feature over 170 animal species across land, air, and sea, several of which have never appeared in a Rockstar game. Native Florida animals like flamingos, manatees, pelicans, and alligators will coexist with invasive creatures including green iguanas, cane toads, feral cats, and rhesus macaque monkeys. Rockstar is building on its Red Dead Redemption work with iridescence, bioluminescence, translucency, and feather types, plus new hair and fur systems, and certain animals can be tracked as Rare, Discoverable, or Legendary.
Rockstar Games has confirmed in an exclusive cover story that Grand Theft Auto VI's Leonida setting will feature dynamic weather systems simulating Florida's tropical climate, including dynamic cloudscapes, localized storms, persistent puddles, and rainbows. The game will also include tropical storms and seasonal hurricanes, though Rockstar has not revealed how often these larger storms occur or how they affect gameplay and storytelling.
A new Game Informer preview says GTA 6's map is twice the size of GTA 5's and features dynamic weather including tropical storms and hurricanes. Rockstar's Owen Shepherd said the weather system was re-engineered to be more localized and persistent, so different parts of Leonida can see very different conditions at once. Leonida is split into six main regions, and the game will include over 170 animal species plus activities such as base jumping, billiards, gyms, kayaking, mini golf, scuba diving, street and off-road racing, zoos, air boating and jet skiing.
Rebecka Coutaz, VP and GM of Battlefield Studios Europe, detailed how DICE reorganized its development approach after Battlefield 2042's disastrous launch. Battlefield 6 was developed from the start by four studios—DICE, Criterion, Motive Studios, and Ripple Effect—and sold over 7 million copies in its first three days, becoming the best-selling game of 2025 in the US.
A GTA Forum user claims that an L.A. Noire sequel is Rockstar's next game, set in San Francisco with a story about the Zodiac Killer and a target of 2030. The user also says Rockstar wants the face scanning to be insane and the game to be the best looking ever. The same user claimed in 2023 that GTA 6 would have 4 characters and relationship and criminal profile systems, with some of that recently confirmed by Rob Nelson.
The Game Business reports that Hideo Kojima's Physint has a budget reportedly around $400 million. The same report says the company has signed the big game and is now investing in a new Halo team as well.
CD Projekt Red said on the AnsweRED Podcast that the Chimera tank boss fight in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty took two years of repeated iteration to get right. Art director Paweł Mielniczuk said the tank was made four times with changing equipment and weapons, and creative director Igor Sarzyński called it "one of the most expensive art assets I think ever." Game director Gabe Amatangelo described the fight as a nexus of gameplay, narrative, art and worldbuilding that required striking a balance.
Game Informer announced Grand Theft Auto VI as its next cover story, featuring a 14-page report with exclusive Rockstar developer interviews, new screenshots, and original cover art, available digitally to subscribers next week. The game itself releases November 19. The weekend recommendations also cover a Sonic Adventure 2 design document, Critical Reflex demos, a Final Fantasy VII Revelation preview, a StarCraft developer interview at BlizzCon, and a Control Resonant review.
Game Informer interviewed the StarCraft team at BlizzCon 2026 about the open-world shooter and asked its biggest questions about the game's production. Lead developers Dan Hay and AnaLee Haertling shared new details about the project and the themes and plot points Blizzard considers important as it works to ship the game in 2030.
CD Projekt Red said on its official AnsweRED podcast that the Chimera tank boss fight in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty took about two years to get right, with the tank built four times and its equipment and weapons changed along the way. Creative director Igor Sarzyński called it "one of the most expensive art assets" ever, while game director Gabe Amatangelo described the fight as a nexus of gameplay, narrative, art and worldbuilding that required beat-by-beat balancing.
Rockstar Games has announced a limited Goodtime State Vice City collection for Grand Theft Auto 6 priced at £349, which does not include a copy of the game and is available to pre-order now. The set includes a Macca the Gator figure, Oakley Frogskins sunglasses, a Leonida Keys crossbody bag, a New Era 9FORTY snapback hat, and other items, three of which — a magnetic mirror, razor blade keychain, and swizzle spoon — carry a suggestive combination.
Blizzard game director Joe Shely said at a BlizzCon roundtable that Diablo 5 will take "a somewhat different approach" to level-scaling, leaning closer to Diablo 2 than Diablo 4. Shely said automatic scaling can get in the way of the feeling of power, though the team has not fully discussed the system yet. Blizzard has also said Diablo 5's itemisation and loot are inspired by Diablo 2, and the game isn't due for release until spring 2029.
Tokyo Game Show 2026's 30th instalment ran only four of its five days after the final day was canceled due to an oncoming typhoon, with remakes and legacy IP dominating the showfloor. A preliminary CESA report found 86% of developers self-reported using AI tools, up from 51% last year, while Level-5 drew controversy for prominent AI use in its showcase and trailers, prompting CEO Akihiro Hino to apologize.
Inflated AAA budgets have pushed studios to lean on focus groups and market research in late development, but these methods are deeply limited in usefulness. The real problem isn't executives who think they know game design better than developers, but those who think a room of random strangers does, and the loop of reworks and focus groups erodes both a game's originality and its developers' morale.
Rock Paper Shotgun's James Archer reviews Control Resonant, finding that the sequel's switch to Dylan Faden, a kaleidoscopic open-world Manhattan, and melee action-RPG combat pays off. Fights revolve around the shapeshifting Aberrant's forms and combos, with status effects enabling stance-break builds that make combat more aggressive than the original's. Progression is tied to Manhattan sub-areas that reset and toughen after their boss falls, and the reviewer notes Steam Deck performance falls short of its promised support alongside bugs such as music cutouts and enemies stuck on scenery.
UK studio Criterion was officially brought under the EA Entertainment banner in 2023 specifically to work on Battlefield, while the Need for Speed franchise is currently dormant. Producer Stefan Wittelsbürger says Criterion is "a Battlefield studio" and was heavily involved in Battlefield 6's single-player, particularly its last two missions, plus core systems such as destruction, guns and vehicle handling. Director of operations Amy Pejic says the Burnout "Criterion fingerprint" — minute-to-minute feel, player momentum, controlled chaos and spectacle — still runs through what the studio delivers now.
Blizzard announced at BlizzCon 2026 that the third StarCraft title, simply called StarCraft, will launch in 2030 and shift from real-time strategy to an open-world first-person shooter. Blizzard general manager and vice president Dan Hay leads the project and said players can create and name a character, follow that character's story to a definitive ending, and that it is not a seasonal game. It is the franchise's first new title since StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void in 2015, after two earlier StarCraft FPS attempts were cancelled.
Saber Interactive chief creative officer Tim Willits says the company has never replaced anyone with AI and does not use generative AI in games like Space Marine, Hellraiser and Stuntman, only experimenting with it in Rideshare Stimulator's AI mode. Saber now has 3,500 employees across 15 studios but no real development in North America, keeping its Florida headquarters and a US publishing team. It is balancing tentpole titles such as Stuntman: Hollywood, John Wick, Turok: Origins and Jurassic Park: Survival with remasters including the original Hitman trilogy.