Rockstar's Rob Nelson says GTA 6 starts Jason and Lucia on small-time crime

Jason and Lucia cannot steal whatever car they like when GTA 6 begins. Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson told The Guardian that the pair start out hotwiring cheaper cars and picking basic locks, and that the ways into a building open up as their skills grow.

The feature, written by Keza MacDonald after a visit to Rockstar North in Edinburgh, was published on November 11. Nelson described Jason and Lucia as "a younger couple with their backs against the wall", which is the reason the early game holds them back. "Narratively, it doesn't make a lot of sense for them to go out and cause as much carnage and make as much noise as they can," he said.

What Jason and Lucia can steal at the start

Only lower-end cars can be hotwired early on, so a supercar parked at the kerb is not an option until later, multiple outlets report from the interview. Locks work the same way, with basic ones first and better methods arriving as the story goes on.

Casing a robbery before it happens

Robberies can be looked over first rather than rushed. MacDonald was shown a jewellery store job in which the player could find a back entrance, look for a safe code, and either disable the security cameras or take the footage, so the job draws less attention. Nelson's own objection during the demonstration was to the position of a security guard's feet.

Jason and Lucia's relationship

The two can call each other, text and go on dates, and the relationship moves with how the player treats it. Nelson called the player "the steward of their relationship" and said it is "yours to nurture or yours to lose", with whether it stays a romantic relationship depending on the player's choices.

Nelson also said GTA 6 is the first game in the series to build in ways to show empathy. Rockstar has "tried for the first time in a GTA to provide mechanisms that encourage it, for those who want to", he said. One of them is asking a stranger "Can I pet her dog?" Pedestrians react when the player interrupts the conversations they are holding.

Switching between Jason and Lucia

Players can move between the two for most of the game. Certain acts lock the player into one character's perspective for part of the story.

Where the detail comes from

Research trips to Miami started in 2015 and took in clubs, bars in the Florida Keys and ride-alongs with South Beach police. A wildlife log tracks 62 species of bird, identified through binoculars, in the way Red Dead Redemption 2 tracked animals. MacDonald described the result as "gratuitously, absurdly detailed, from the macro level to the micro", down to the flyers on cafe walls and the insides of fridges.

Rockstar executive Jennifer Kolbe said the studio could have made a quicker, iterative sequel, a GTA 5.5. Nelson's answer to that was "You have to take big swings. It can't be just more of the same."

GTA 6 launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19.