GTA 6 Devs Researched Florida Nightlife and Beaches
Rockstar narrative lead Rupert Humphries says research trips for Leonida covered nightclubs, the Everglades, and ride-alongs with former cops.
Building a fictional Florida takes field work, and Rockstar Games has been doing plenty of it. Rupert Humphries, Rockstar senior vice president of narrative, told Game Informer that the GTA 6 team tries to experience everything the region has to offer before putting any of it on screen. That includes riding around at night with former police officers, visiting strip clubs and nightclubs, and spending time on beaches, in the Everglades, and down in the Keys. The studio has taken repeated trips of this kind over the years to gather reference material for Leonida, the sunny, swampy setting that stands in for the Sunshine State and its tourist cities.
Much of that development is led from Rockstar North in Edinburgh, an ocean away from the heat and humidity the team was studying. Humphries also described what the setting is meant to convey once players arrive: rich and poor people living right next door to each other, with crime and corruption as the thread that pulls everyone together. He said the story cannot drag players everywhere, but the goal is to let them explore and absorb most of the places, cultures, and vibes. Research trips are common across the industry, though few studios get to write off nightlife quite so literally.
Tags
- business
Sources
Where this story ran: one outlet on 29 September 2026. The summary above is written by GamersGuild; the links go to the original reports.