GTA 6’s world won’t be blocked off by story progression, Rockstar confirms.
In a new preview from Edge magazine (as relayed by the podcast GTA VI O’Clock), Rockstar Games confirmed a ton of new details about GTA 6. One of the big bits revealed was that GTA 6’s map will open up relatively early. In some GTA games, like GTA 4, the game forces you to progress through its story before you can access the entire map. GTA 4’s Liberty City uses police blockades on bridges to make sure the world only expands as Niko continues his journey. That changed in GTA 5, as you could go wherever your heart desired once the game’s tutorials were finished.
It seems like GTA 6 will be similar, as Edge’s story confirms that the state of Leonida will open up relatively early on. Of course, there will likely be some initial story bits to introduce the characters and mechanics before you can go wherever you want. So, if you wish to head north and see the top of the map at the start of the game, you can do so. Of course, the story itself will take you to a lot of places around the map as you experience it, but you won’t be chained to Vice City for the first 10 hours if you don’t want to be.
Red Dead Redemption 2 also largely lets the player freely explore the map, but there was one area that they couldn’t visit until the end of the game: the entire map from the first Red Dead Redemption. While there wasn’t as much to see and do there, it was a fun surprise that almost doubled the scope of the game’s map. If players tried to go there before the story was ready, they would be shot and killed by snipers.
Similarly, the first Red Dead Redemption game prevented the player from visiting Mexico until John Marston’s journey took him there. It seems like GTA 6 will give players a lot of freedom off the bat… and it may take a while before you see anything. Rockstar North co-studio head Aaron Garbut also confirmed that he’s still discovering new locations in Leonida.
Part of that comes from how dense the game is, with Garbut noting that there are “an order of magnitude more interiors” compared to other Rockstar titles, and all of them have been handcrafted with an exceptional level of detail.
GTA 6 will release on November 19 for Xbox Series X|S and PS5.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.