GTA 6 built by hand, street by street, Rockstar confirms ahead of launch

Rockstar Games has announced that Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) will not employ generative artificial intelligence for its creative process because the development team will create the game world through manual methods before the November 19, 2026 launch.

Rockstar Games, together with its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has confirmed this information because public interest in AI technology for video games has increased.

Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6)

Take-Two Interactive Chief Executive Officer Strauss Zelnick said generative AI has “zero part” in what Rockstar Games is building for GTA 6. He explained that while AI is widely discussed across the industry, Rockstar believes true creativity comes from people, not automated systems. The development team does not use generative AI tools which create text, images or assets to develop the game’s world or story or characters.

Rockstar Games says GTA 6 is being developed street by street and neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Developers have created all buildings and roads and environmental areas of Vice City together with the entire fictional territory of Leonida.

The studio says this approach guarantees that their open world achieves complete authenticity while fulfilling all player requirements of a next-generation open-world game.

Take-Two Interactive uses artificial intelligence for backend operations, whereas GTA 6 does not include any AI-generated content. Zelnick said AI helps with testing, optimisation and efficiency, but not with artistic creation. The balance between these two opposing views demonstrates the ongoing discussion about artificial intelligence usage in video game development.