How Rockstar Is Building GTA 6’s Vice City: Miami Research, Tiny Details, and a Living Leonida
Rockstar’s upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 is aiming to deliver one of the most detailed open worlds the studio has ever created, and new behind-the-scenes impressions offer a fascinating look at how Vice City and the wider state of Leonida are being brought to life.
Journalist Keza MacDonald recently visited Rockstar North in Edinburgh, where she spoke with GTA 6 development lead Rob Nelson and Rockstar executive Jennifer Kolbe. Her early impressions reveal that Rockstar’s approach to world-building begins long before characters, missions, or gameplay systems are finalized. For GTA 6, that process started with deep real-world research into Miami and its surrounding culture.
Rockstar’s Miami research reportedly began as far back as 2015. According to Nelson, the studio first focuses on understanding a location before shaping the game around it. That means studying not just the buildings and streets, but also the mood, history, nightlife, people, and everyday rhythm of the place.
For GTA 6, Rockstar’s team spent time exploring Miami, South Beach, the Florida Keys, local bars, clubs, and even joined police ride-alongs to better understand the area from different perspectives. These trips helped inform the fictional state of Leonida, which has already impressed fans with how closely it appears to capture the look and atmosphere of Florida-inspired locations.
The level of authenticity shown so far has sparked plenty of discussion among players. From sunlit streets and neon-soaked nightlife to small-town architecture and coastal environments, GTA 6 appears to be designed with Rockstar’s signature attention to place and personality. Some fans have even compared certain buildings seen in the game to real-world homes, suggesting that Rockstar may have pulled inspiration from a wider range of Southern locations beyond Miami alone.
One of the most interesting takeaways from the visit was just how seriously Rockstar treats tiny details. During a gameplay demonstration, Nelson reportedly pointed out small animation touches involving Jason, one of GTA 6’s main characters. Jason can walk while eating a donut and drinking beer, and when he starts running, he adjusts naturally by tucking a six-pack under his arm. Even the liquid inside the bottles reacts visibly as he moves.
That kind of detail may sound minor, but it reflects Rockstar’s broader goal: making GTA 6 feel alive even when players are not focusing on the main action. Background characters, casual animations, object physics, and environmental reactions all contribute to a world that feels believable.
One anecdote that has caught fans’ attention involves a jewelry store robbery scene. Nelson reportedly noticed the exact placement of a security guard’s feet and felt it needed to be corrected. For many players, this perfectly sums up Rockstar’s development philosophy. Even a background character’s stance can matter if it affects the realism of a scene.
This obsessive attention to animation and environmental detail is one reason expectations for Grand Theft Auto 6 remain so high. Rockstar has built its reputation on creating open worlds that feel dense, reactive, and full of personality. With GTA 6, the studio appears to be pushing that approach even further.
Still, while these early behind-the-scenes details are exciting, many fans are hoping for more concrete information about GTA 6’s story, mission structure, gameplay mechanics, and open-world systems. Rockstar has already introduced Jason and Lucia as central figures, but much of the game’s narrative remains under wraps.
For now, the biggest takeaway is clear: GTA 6’s Vice City is not just being designed as a backdrop. It is being built as a place with texture, culture, movement, and history. From Miami research trips dating back nearly a decade to tiny animation details like beer bottles sloshing during a run, Rockstar seems determined to make Leonida feel like a living, breathing world.
As anticipation continues to build, these behind-the-scenes glimpses only make the wait for Grand Theft Auto 6 feel even bigger. If the final game delivers on the level of detail suggested so far, Vice City could become one of the most immersive open-world settings ever created.
