Rockstar devs say GTA 6 was delayed partly because the number of NPCs was 'horrifying' and needed a dedicated studio

Rockstar co-head of development Rob Nelson told Bloomberg that one reason for GTA 6's delay was the 'horrifying' number of NPCs needed to populate Leonida, which led the company to set up an entire studio in LA to handle the workload. Fellow co-head Phil Hooker said the team shifted the date once it became clear some areas wouldn't make it, since hitting the schedule would mean shipping a game they didn't want to make. GTA 6 was originally slated for May and delayed to November.