GTA 6 is "ready," says Rockstar North, with trains, gas tanks and a map almost as big as three games

Rob Nelson spent about 90 minutes playing GTA 6 in front of a reporter, then set the PS5 controller down. "It's ready," the co-head of Rockstar North, the Edinburgh studio leading development, told Edge for the cover story of its issue 430, which the magazine also published free on GamesRadar+ on October 29. It is the last big look at the game before it launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, the date still listed on Rockstar's official site, and the first time the studio has explained how specific systems work.

Nelson is joined by Aaron Garbut, Rockstar North's other co-head, and Phil Hooker, head of development. The feature comes with a dozen new screenshots and details Rockstar had not confirmed before, covering public transit, fuel, policing and the way the game keeps track of how violent you are.

A map nearly as big as GTA IV, GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined

For the first time, Rockstar has measured Leonida against three of its own maps at once. The studio says Leonida's total landmass, Vice City included, is nearly as large as the playable maps of GTA IV, GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 put together. Edge puts it more simply as roughly twice the size of GTA V's map. There is no square-mileage figure, so treat the comparison as a sense of scale rather than a way to estimate how long a drive across the state will take.

Garbut had already pegged Leonida at around double GTA V in Game Informer's cover story, so the scale itself is not news. What is new is the detail inside it. Garbut describes roughly ten times as many interiors as in Rockstar's previous games, an order-of-magnitude jump, while roads and highways are narrower than GTA V's so the city feels like a believable size. Characters draw on around 600,000 animations. The day-night cycle is also substantially longer, because GTA V's felt too fast to the team, which leaves more time for sunsets and nights. Edge does not say exactly how long an in-game day lasts.

Buses, trains and a gas gauge

Leonida's buses and trains actually run, and you can ride them to get around. Hooker says he has memorized every route and was obsessed with making sure they always ran on time. One internal test challenged the team to reach Watson Bay using public transit alone. The system ties into policing as well, since officers should not search a bus unless they saw you get on.

Every vehicle has a fuel gauge and an engine-health readout. Edge says a car can go a long way before it runs low and filling up is a quick stop, though the feature gives no exact time. Your phone also picks up two apps. Scooter Bros delivers the car you ask for within seconds for a fee, and the driver leaves on a scooter. WAINK lists the models fences want, along with their security and whether they carry trackers, and the condition of the car you drop off affects part of your payout.

Police remember your clothes, your gun and your partner

A new heat system tracks what the police know about you: your physical description, what you were wearing, your weapon, whether you had an accomplice and whether a security camera caught you. On screen, icons sum up the police report you are trying to outrun. You can wipe parts of it by changing clothes, ditching an identifiable weapon or splitting up from your partner.

During a nighttime motorcycle chase in the demo, officers lay a stinger strip that is almost impossible to see at speed. Jason and Lucia, the game's two leads, are thrown from the bike, and a German shepherd from the K-9 unit catches Jason almost immediately and pins him to the ground. Earlier, Jason had pulled a shotgun out of an unattended patrol car. Carrying a weapon openly gets noticed, too. Pedestrians react differently depending on whether it is slung on your back or in your hand, although that alone does not trigger a wanted level.

On top of that sits a criminal profile, a scale running from Professional to Irredeemable that is shown with angel and devil icons. It tracks how you handle a situation rather than how many crimes you commit, so threatening or knocking someone out counts differently from killing them when you did not need to. Rockstar confirms the profile affects how the story unfolds but has not said how.

Jason and Lucia on a four-point scale

The couple's relationship is measured on a four-point scale that rises mostly with the time they spend together, whether that means walking on the beach, cycling, driving around Leonida or working out once you have bought a gym membership. Nelson says the story opens with both of them wanting to give the relationship another shot, and whether it holds is up to the player. He would not confirm or deny whether they can get married.

The feature also picks up smaller touches. A disgusted reaction to bad smells, first built for a single scripted scene, grew into a system that works across the game. In the demo, Jason grimaces as he walks into a trashed house where the family dog has left a mess.

What the feature leaves open

Edge saw the game only on PS5, and the feature does not mention a PC version, which Rockstar still has not announced. It also gives no refueling time, no length for an in-game day and no square-mileage figure for the map.

Preloading starts on November 12, and the US PlayStation Store unlocks the game at midnight Eastern on November 19, as our GTA 6 file size and preload guide explains. Price, editions and the cast are covered in everything we know about GTA 6.