rockstar did ridealongs with cops and gang members for gta 6 research

Saw this on Dexerto and had to share. Rockstar devs were apparently out in Florida riding along with actual cops and gang members while they were doing research for GTA 6.

That's wild to think about. Like, imagine being in a patrol car with a Rockstar employee taking notes on how the officer talks or what the radio chatter sounds like. Or sitting down with someone from a gang and asking what their day to day actually looks like. That's the kind of detail that ends up in the game without you ever noticing it directly.

I know Rockstar has always gone hard on research for their worlds, but hearing they were out there with both sides of that line at the same time is a little surreal. The police side probably helped with how cops react, how they move, the little things they say when they pull someone over. The gang side probably fed into how crews operate in Leonida, how they dress, how they talk to each other. Both of those are huge parts of GTA and they can feel super fake if they get them wrong.

Makes me appreciate the delay a bit more. They're not just building a map and dropping missions on it. They're actually trying to get the texture of Florida right, and that takes time. I'd rather wait for a game where the cops feel like real Florida cops and the gangs feel like they belong in Vice City than get something rushed.

Anyway, just thought this was a cool little behind the scenes nugget. Would love to hear more about what else they were doing down there, but this alone is a pretty good sign they're taking the setting seriously.

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Source: Dexerto · Curated content.