Game Informer's GTA VI cover story added the most concrete detail yet about Leonida itself: more than 170 animal species, localised rain and seasonal hurricanes, and a map Rockstar puts at roughly twice the size of GTA V.
Game Informer ran Grand Theft Auto VI as its cover story on September 29, built on new interviews with Rockstar. Much of the feature sits behind a subscription, but two free companion pieces and the quotes carried by other outlets give the substance.
More than 170 animal species
Leonida has over 170 species across land, air and sea, several of them new to any Rockstar game. They are chosen to reflect Florida as it actually is, invasive species included. Named so far: flamingos, pelicans, manatees and alligators among the natives; green iguanas, cane toads, feral cats and rhesus macaques among the invaders. Some animals are tracked under Rare, Discoverable and Legendary categories, though which ones has been kept secret. The rendering builds on Red Dead Redemption 2's wildlife work, with new hair and fur systems and effects such as iridescent feathers and bioluminescence.
Weather that behaves like Florida's
Rain is localised: you can stand in the sun and watch a storm fall somewhere else. Puddles and wet surfaces persist after it passes, and rainbows can appear in the right light. Leonida also has tropical storms and seasonal hurricanes. How often the big storms come, and what they do to gameplay or the story, has not been explained.
The map
Aaron Garbut, Rockstar North's art director, described Leonida as the largest world Rockstar has built “by some degree” — roughly twice the size of GTA V's. No square-kilometre figure was given, and any you see is a fan estimate.
The story will not show you all of it
Rupert Humphries, Rockstar's senior vice president of narrative, said part of the story's job is to move you around the map, but “we don't have time to take you everywhere”. The rest is there to explore on your own terms.
What it adds
Most earlier coverage was about Jason and Lucia. This was the first detailed look at the place itself — and the first official sense of scale since Rockstar named Leonida's six regions.
