In yet another example of GTA 6's advanced realism, Rockstar says it features a dynamic weather system that you'll want to navigate carefully lest you find yourself 30,000 feet in the air as a hurricane circles around you.
Talking to Edge for its huge GTA 6 cover story, Rockstar co-studio head Aaron Garbut describes the weather system in GTA 6 as "much more granular" compared to other games where "generally speaking, it's either rainy or sunny or whatever."
I'm not one teeny tiny bit surprised to hear GTA 6 is raising the bar when it comes to in-game weather systems. It is the most expensive game ever made, after all, and Rockstar is well-known for pushing technological boundaries. And yet, I still can't help but feel a childlike excitement at the idea of entire cloud systems moving around independently from each other, of storms that form in the far-off distance and gradually move into town, of surfaces that dry at different speeds after storms. It's stuff like this that contributes to the living, breathing worlds Rockstar is beloved for creating, and with leaps in hardware capabilities every generation, it's always exciting to see what's been made possible.
Speaking of which, wind in GTA 6 sounds genuinely incredible. Garbut says wind will move through Vice City and cause trees to sway and waves to form in water, which would be pretty underwhelming if that was the extent of it, but no, islands and buildings will intercept the force of wind as it does in real life and change the way an anchored boat might bob and sway as it floats along a shoreline. Even your position from within your boat will impact the way waves rock you about.
"Depending on where you are in your boat," Garbut says, "you'll skip over that stuff or get really rocked around by it." Flying a plane or helicopter through the sky on a stormy day or night can also be a risky affair, as severe weather will cause turbulence and potentially cause light damage if you're in the storm for too long. Citizens of Leonida will also seek shelter when severe weather passes through, which definitely feels distinctly Florida. "Everything comes down to these granular levels," Garbut says, "and then it just interacts."
GTA 6 is set to rock the boat on November 19.
