Edge's GTA 6 cover story: a 90-minute Rockstar demo, a map twice GTA V's size and 11 new screenshots

Edge magazine went inside Rockstar North in Edinburgh, one of the main studios behind Grand Theft Auto VI, for the cover story of its issue 430, on sale Oct. 29 and free to read on GamesRadar+. Rob Nelson, Rockstar North's co-studio head and head of development, played the current PlayStation 5 build for about 90 minutes without a script. Edge also spoke to Aaron Garbut, the studio's other co-studio head, and Phil Hooker; all three share the title head of development. Rockstar gave Edge 11 new screenshots. Here's everything new, with what each developer said.

"It's ready"

Nelson told Edge the game is done: "It's ready." He called the pressure from outside the studio "unprecedented" and said the hardest part is the final stretch, when the team can change less and less each day.

Garbut said he feels better about GTA 6 than about any game he has worked on, and that the team didn't cut corners on the scale, the detail or the story: "I feel like we've built a pyramid on Everest." Hooker, who is in charge of getting the game stable, said he can't guess how players will react, but "We've made what we wanted to make."

A map twice GTA V's size

The map is roughly twice the size of GTA V's, Edge reports, and Rockstar told the magazine that 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 combined. Rockstar still hasn't given a figure in square miles. Our map guide has the six regions.

Garbut said the game has "an order of magnitude more interiors" than Rockstar's earlier games, and Edge describes houses filled with the belongings and mess of the people who live in them. Leonida's people got the same care: Rockstar set up a team of writers, directors and producers in Los Angeles to work on them, and made around 600,000 animations. Each pedestrian has personality traits that decide how they react to you. In the demo, a man walking his dog didn't like the way Jason looked at him, so he let the dog off its leash and it chased Jason down the street.

Longer days, narrower roads, storms you can see coming

• Days last longer. The day and night cycle runs much longer than GTA V's, so sunsets linger and nights stretch out. When the team tried GTA V's timings, Nelson said, "everything felt too fast." Edge doesn't give a length.
• Roads are narrower. GTA V's wide roads have been narrowed to what Nelson called "a more believable size".
• Weather builds up. Garbut said clouds move on their own, shaped by wind, humidity, fog, the time of day and the season. You can see a storm forming in the distance and drive into it; roads get wet and dry at different rates. Wind moves trees and waves, boats get thrown around in open water, storms buffet planes and helicopters and can lightly damage them, and pedestrians run for shelter.

The Criminal Profile can change the story

GTA 6 rates how Jason and Lucia behave on a scale from Professional to Irredeemable, shown as an angel and a devil, Edge reports. You can knock an enemy out or scare them off instead of killing them, and players who shoot first end up with a violent profile. Rockstar told Edge the profile will influence how Jason and Lucia's story plays out. You choose what kind of criminal they are, not whether they are criminals.

The police build a description of you

When you commit a crime, icons at the top of the screen show what the police know: what you look like, whether you were alone or with your partner, what you were wearing, whether a CCTV camera caught you and what weapon you had. Splitting up, changing clothes or dropping the weapon each removes a piece of the description. Edge also says that walking around with a shotgun in your hands is enough to unsettle people, though the game gives you some leeway before you get a wanted level.

In the demo, the police laid a stinger strip that burst the tire of Nelson's motorcycle, and a K9 unit's dog caught Jason and pinned him to the ground. Our gameplay guide has the rest of what Rockstar has said about the police.

Cars run on gas

Every vehicle has a fuel gauge and an engine health readout, Edge reports. A phone app called Scooter Bros delivers your car for a fee, and newer, pricier cars can have trackers. More in our guide to fuel, car delivery and trackers.

Buses, trains and a slower story

GTA 6 has working bus and train networks. Hooker said he checks the buses often: "I'm obsessed with making sure they always turn up." He knows every route by heart.

The story moves at a gentler pace than in earlier games, Edge reports. Sometimes Jason and Lucia have to raise money before the next job, by holding up a gas station or a jewelry store, or by stealing a car a fence wants.

Jason and Lucia

The demo began in the small apartment Jason and Lucia share. GTA 6 measures how close they are on a four-point scale, and Nelson wouldn't say whether they can get married. Edge reports that both leads took "a long time" to cast. Our guide to Jason and Lucia's relationship has the details.

How Rockstar made it

About 900 people work at Rockstar North, according to Edge. In 2015, Nelson led a small group to Miami to work out what a return to Vice City should look and feel like; the story took shape later, once Red Dead Redemption 2 was finished. The Toronto studio played a leading role in Leonida's population and research, and the San Diego team helped build the events you stumble into around the world. Sam Houser, Rockstar's president, helped plan the map, the characters and the story, and he and Nelson play each milestone build together and send notes to the teams.

11 new screenshots

Rockstar's new images include:

• Vice City's skyline over the bay
• Lucia aiming a submachine gun from a car at night
• Jason breaking into a car outside a 24/7 supermarket
• a hammerhead shark
• a biker gang riding past Jacob's Tavern Bar in a small town
• a dirt track with a monster truck
• a man with a radio and a bulletproof vest

There's also a new piece of artwork of Jason and Lucia by a red car. The screenshots are on our screenshots page. The image descriptions on GamesRadar+ call the pair on a green sport bike Jason and Lucia, but they don't look like the Jason and Lucia in Rockstar's other images, so we haven't named them.

What Edge doesn't say

• How long a day lasts. Only that it's much longer than GTA V's.
• Whether Jason and Lucia can marry. Nelson wouldn't say.
• What happens when a tank runs dry. Edge says cars go a long way on a tank.
• What time GTA 6 unlocks on Nov. 19. Rockstar still hasn't announced a launch hour. Our release time guide has what the stores show.