Rockstar Confirms GTA 6 Development Began in 2015

Rockstar Games has provided its clearest account yet of how long Grand Theft Auto 6 has been in development, confirming that work on the game stretches back to 2015. The project began with research trips to Miami and an ambitious concept internally known as Project Americas.

The confirmation adds context to GTA 6's unusually long production cycle. Most of Rockstar's development team did not move onto the game until after Red Dead Redemption 2 launched in 2018, meaning the earliest years were focused more heavily on planning, research and defining its enormous scope.

Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson told Bloomberg that development dates back to 2015, when he and other Rockstar employees traveled to Miami for research. The location would eventually form the basis for the game's modern version of Vice City and the wider state of Leonida.

At the time, the project was known internally as Project Americas. That codename had circulated through reports and leaks for years, but Rockstar's comments now directly connect it to the earliest version of GTA 6.

The initial idea was considerably larger than the game players will receive in November. Rockstar reportedly considered including large areas inspired by both North and South America before reducing the geographical scope as development progressed.

A 2015 starting point does not mean thousands of developers were working full-time on GTA 6 for the entire period. Nelson previously explained that the majority of Rockstar's team only began moving onto the project after Red Dead Redemption 2 shipped in October 2018.

Rockstar's focus on finishing Red Dead Redemption 2 therefore limited how quickly the next Grand Theft Auto could grow during its early years. Production later expanded significantly as the company committed more staff and resources to building Vice City, Leonida and the systems supporting them.

The development timeline has since included the COVID-19 pandemic, Rockstar's internal workplace changes and the enormous September 2022 leak that exposed unfinished footage. The game has also received two public delays while Rockstar continued polishing the final release.

Scaling back Project Americas did not result in a small open world. Rockstar now describes Leonida as its biggest and most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto formula, with Vice City surrounded by multiple regions ranging from the Leonida Keys to more rural areas.

The game follows Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos after a robbery puts them at the center of a wider criminal conspiracy. Rockstar has shown the pair traveling across Leonida while encountering its criminal underworld, social media culture and numerous supporting characters.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. That means the final release arrives roughly 11 years after Rockstar's earliest confirmed work began in Miami in 2015.