Rockstar Says It More Than Doubled in Size for GTA 6 and Hired Over 50 Real Street Artists to Create Vice City’s Murals

Rockstar Games has revealed new details about the enormous effort behind Grand Theft Auto VI, including the studio’s significant expansion and its use of more than 50 real street artists to help bring Vice City to life. In an exclusive deep dive published by Dazed, the studio’s creative team discussed the specialist work being used to build the world of Leonida.

According to the interview, Rockstar has more than doubled in size since the release of Red Dead Redemption 2. The company now operates offices around the world, with different teams focused on specific parts of GTA VI’s ambitious open world.

Rockstar Is Using Real Artists to Build Vice City

One of the most interesting details from the GTA VI deep dive is Rockstar’s decision to hire more than 50 real street artists to design murals for the game. Their work was used in areas including Vice City’s Stockyard, which is based on Miami’s famous Wynwood art district.

The street artists are part of a much larger effort to make Leonida feel more authentic and culturally distinct. Rockstar has spent years researching Miami and its surrounding areas, with developers visiting the region and a dedicated research team gathering firsthand information about the locations and people that inspired the game.

The studio has also assembled highly specialized teams for other areas of development. A Rockstar branch in Los Angeles is dedicated almost entirely to creating the game’s pedestrians, while the team working on vehicle handling includes real race-car drivers.

The expansion of Rockstar’s development team reflects the scale of its plans for GTA VI. The studio is aiming to create a more grounded and reactive world, with NPCs tailored to different areas of Leonida and player actions having a greater impact on how the environment responds.

Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson told Dazed that the team looks back at its previous games “with a critical eye” when deciding where the studio can improve. That philosophy appears to be driving the game’s larger development effort, from its detailed NPC population to the use of real artists and other specialists.

Rockstar’s official Grand Theft Auto VI website confirms that the game will take Jason and Lucia across Vice City and the wider state of Leonida. [Rockstar Games official GTA VI page] With Rockstar more than doubling in size and bringing in specialists to work on everything from murals to vehicles and pedestrians, the studio is clearly putting enormous resources into making its next open world its most ambitious yet.