"Forecasts were terrifying": GTA VI developer explained delays and talked about opening a separate studio for NPC creation
The developers of Grand Theft Auto VI had to revise production plans several times, as they realized they couldn't implement everything they had envisioned by the original deadline.
Recently, during a conversation with Bloomberg, development lead Rob Nelson revealed a remarkable production detail. At a certain stage of development, an assessment was made of the number of NPCs that needed to be written and animated to achieve the set goals. And it became clear that Rockstar Games did not have such production capacities. Nelson said that "the forecasts we were given were terrifying".
The situation was so bad that a decision was made to open an entire studio in Los Angeles, whose employees (writers, producers, etc.) would be engaged in one task — creating characters.
Another development lead, Phil Hooker, explained that the developers could have met the original deadlines, but then GTA VI would have turned out differently:
We could have met the original schedule, but it wouldn't have been the game we wanted to make.
It is noted that the delays that arose were even for the better for some team members. Important development decisions were made and the game gradually took shape. Hooker recalled that once during a test playthrough, he played for several hours, but even after a couple of hours, he hadn't reached the desired mission — something interesting was constantly happening in the world::
I remember how much fun I had then. And everyone left that test invigorated. Despite all the fears and doubts that plagued us at that moment, we thought: "If we stay true to our course, we will create something truly special".
Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled for release on November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles.
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