- Rockstar Games has been working on for 11 years, as the artists needed to plan out the map first
- 's, which created "ripple effects," according to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier
- Schreier says head of development Aaron Garbut told him, "All these things sort of come [back] to bite you later"
Rockstar Games has reportedly been working on much longer than realized, since the studio needed to plan out the game's ambitious map first.
That's according to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, who shared more details about his visit to Rockstar North in a YouTube video after releasing his behind-the-scenes article.
While it's common knowledge that full-scale development of began around 2018 and was originally planned to be made alongside , pre-production on the game actually began much earlier.
"Something that I learned while talking to those folks [the developers at Rockstar North] is that there are a few artists at Rockstar who have actually been working on for more than 11 years since 2015, if not earlier," Schreier said. "2015 is when Rockstar started kind of planning out in the sense that it was conversations before like before that."
Schreier explained that the game's massive map, which is twice as big as 's world and more densely populated and interactive, was a priority for the studio and the first thing it planned.
"2015 is when they started going to Miami, actually starting working on the map of the game, which is always the first thing that Rockstar does on these big open-world games as they start planning out the map first," Schreier said.
He added that gradually over the next couple of years, top leadership then mobilized everyone to work on , as the game needed a lot of help due to its ambitious systems. However, a few artists continued work on 's map.
Aaron Garbut, art director, current head of development and co-studio head at Rockstar North, also told him that "the roads are significantly narrower in than they were in ," which fans may have noticed in the trailers.
This created a more realistic depiction of a fictional Los Angeles, and less like a racing game with wider spaces to zip through like . However, Rockstar's goal of making 's map have narrower roads and denser traffic from the beginning presented some technical challenges, or what Schreier called "ripple effects."
Garbut told Schreier, "All these things sort of come [back] to bite you later," because narrow, denser roads meant the team had to implement more surrounding buildings, and artists have worked on the concept for 11 years.
launches in under one month, on November 19, for PS5, Xbox Series X, and Series S. Rockstar recently released the cinematic launch trailer, which offers a deeper look into the game's story. Elsewhere, a new report claims the PC version could launch in early 2027.
Demi is a freelance games journalist who helps cover gaming news at TechRadar. She's been a games writer for five years and has written for outlets such as GameSpot, NME, and GamesRadar, covering news, features, and reviews. Outside of writing, she plays a lot of RPGs and talks far too much about on X.