GTA 6 Game Informer Cover Story: Everything New, From Hurricanes to Robberies

The GTA 6 Game Informer cover story is a 14-page preview in issue 382, published by Game Informer on September 29, 2026, and its main new claims are a map twice the size of GTA V’s, tropical storms and hurricanes, more than 170 animal species and a robbery section that ties some missions to your income. Marcus Stewart wrote it after interviewing Rockstar developers, and the digital issue sits behind a paywall (on September 30, 2026 the feature page showed about 280 words, then a subscription prompt; TGG says it has since become free to read, possibly only in the Game Informer app). SubscribeForTacos scrolls the whole thing on screen in his video “FULL GameInformer GTA 6 Exclusive Article” and reads it aloud. This page follows the story section by section, quotes the Rockstar developers briefly, paraphrases the rest, and marks what is new against what was already public.

What is in the GTA 6 Game Informer cover story?

Game Informer’s digital issue went live on September 29, 2026, four days after the magazine revealed its cover, original Rockstar artwork of Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos. Game Informer says the story comes with 12 exclusive screenshots and centers on how Rockstar rebuilt Florida as Leonida, ecologically and culturally. The section titles SubscribeForTacos scrolls through are “The Many Sights of Leonida”, “Love at First Heist”, “Carjacking Evolved”, “Eye of the Storm”, “Leonida’s Activities”, “People Pleasers” and “A Brief Guide to Robberies”. The named Rockstar voices are Aaron Garbut, Rupert Humphries, Paul MacPherson, Owen Shepherd and Michael Kane. SubscribeForTacos’s own verdict is that most of the 14 pages repeat what Rockstar already published; the table further down lets you check that item by item.

Is the GTA 6 map really twice as big as GTA 5?

Game Informer reports that Aaron Garbut, whom it titles head of development and co-studio head at Rockstar Games, called Leonida the biggest map Rockstar has ever made “by some degree”, twice as large as GTA V and more dense, detailed and interactive. That is the first version of the “twice GTA V” figure attributed to a Rockstar developer that we have; before this it circulated as a creator’s claim. Game Informer paraphrases the size; Garbut’s own words, as printed, are “Normally you compromise scale for detail or detail for interaction, but with this project we went the other way” and “everything is dialed up.” The story gives no square mileage, so “twice” is a comparison, not a measurement.

Humphries, the senior vice president of narrative, adds that the adventure is “really about the entire state of Leonida” and that the story brings the player around the map. Game Informer lists the six primary regions as Vice City, the Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga National Park, the same six Rockstar already presents. For the regions one by one, see the map, the locations page and our locations explainer.

Will GTA 6 have hurricanes and storms?

Yes: Game Informer reports that Leonida has tropical storms and seasonal hurricanes, and that Rockstar has not said how often they happen or how they affect gameplay and story. Owen Shepherd, vice president of art for lighting and rendering, told Game Informer the team re-engineered the weather system “to make everything much more localized and persistent”. That means new dynamic cloudscapes rolling across the map, from a clear Miami winter sky to the towering afternoon clouds with lightning that Florida has in summer and autumn.

Localized storms mean you can stand in sun and see rain falling elsewhere on the map. Afterwards the wet ground stays wet with persistent puddles, so you can tell an area has just been rained on, and under the right light a fresh shower produces rainbows. Shepherd also describes an updated wind system with offshore breezes after sunset, convectional updrafts and occlusion from buildings; hair and debris swirl on rooftops, gusts ripple the water and bend the grass in the swamps. His picture of a hurricane is heavy clouds, strong winds and so much rain that “everything is dripping wet”, with water gushing off roof edges and lampposts. What a storm does to driving, police or a robbery is not in the story.

How many animals are in GTA 6, and what are the legendary ones?

Game Informer’s public exclusive says Leonida has more than 170 animal species across land, air and sea, several never seen in a Rockstar game, including over 60 bird types and more than 30 land mammals. It names flamingos, manatees, pelicans and alligators as native Florida animals, and green iguanas, cane toads, feral cats and rhesus macaque monkeys as invasive ones. Michael Kane, Rockstar’s vice president of dynamic art, told Game Informer Florida’s ecosystem was included “across the different biomes in Leonida”, from urban and rural areas to inland and ocean waters and the swamps and Everglades.

The sea gets its own line: Game Informer says Kane confirmed different shark species, whales, rays, turtles and jellyfish, each with distinct movement, and notes scuba diving was already seen in trailers. Fur is fully simulated and reacts to dirt, matting and getting wet, and animals show iridescence, bioluminescence, translucency and feather types. Like Red Dead Redemption, certain animals can be tracked and are sorted as Rare, Discoverable and Legendary, and Rockstar is keeping which animals those are secret. What tracking pays and how any of it connects to money are not answered, and Game Informer’s public pages do not describe hunting.

What is there to do in northern Leonida?

Paul MacPherson, senior vice president of environment art, told Game Informer the team looked at Panama City, Jacksonville, Ocala and the small rural towns between them for the north, and cited the lumber industry and forest zones. His list of what fills the countryside between the northern towns is long: ATV trails, a mud park, destruction derby races on floodlit oval tracks at night, mountain bike trails, livestock and agriculture farms, high-end ranches, a luxury private golf course, beaches inspired by blackrock and boneyard, MX bike riding around coastal dunes, and bass fishing on a lake ringed by Spanish moss, live oak and cypress. SubscribeForTacos says the floodlit oval tracks were news to him.

Game Informer’s confirmed-activities list for the whole map is shorter: base jumping, billiards, gyms, kayaking, mini golf, scuba diving, air boating and jet skiing, some to blow off steam and some that may build Jason and Lucia’s relationship. SubscribeForTacos says he already knew that list.

Mount Kalaga is where three accounts disagree. Rockstar’s own region panel describes a national landmark up against Leonida’s northern border. Game Informer writes that the national park sits on that northern border and represents the culture of the Florida-Georgia line, “or, to use GTAVI’s in-universe titles, the Leonida-Gloriana line”. SubscribeForTacos says he has been told Game Informer got this wrong and that more will follow, without saying which part. We have no Rockstar source for a “Gloriana” line, so treat that name as Game Informer’s wording until it does.

Two places are missing. Game Informer notes that central Florida, home of Orlando’s theme parks, and the Space Coast have not been seen in the game. MacPherson answered: “while we may not have those exact locations, everything we have is geared to getting that full Florida experience”. SubscribeForTacos adds his own guesses on theme parks, which are not confirmed by anyone.

What are GTA 6’s NPCs like?

Game Informer says GTA 6 has the most diverse NPCs in series history, in appearance and ambient dialogue, and that a team in LA writes only NPC chatter. NPCs vary in height and body type, with different skin types, freckles, moles and tanning, and their fashion changes between areas to reflect local style. Kane said Rockstar “paid a crazy amount of attention” to tattoo styles that fit Leonida’s communities. Game Informer adds that writers immersed themselves in local dialects, both Miami and rural. Kane also described clothing with area-appropriate colors, patterns and branding tied to dirt, weathering and fit, with shoes, watches, sunglasses and hats carrying cultural weight.

How do robberies and the heat system work in GTA 6?

Game Informer’s “A Brief Guide to Robberies” says raising money matters more than ever because certain missions only become available based on your current income. It does not say which missions or what thresholds; how money and robberies connect is still open, and our money system explainer covers what has been shown. You can rob places alone or as a duo, and Game Informer says the duo option grows Jason and Lucia’s relationship. Robberies can be loud and fast or quiet and thorough, and how far you escalate decides if and how the police respond. Game Informer also says Jason and Lucia can be friends or a couple with no gameplay benefit either way, though some story elements are affected by their bond.

The wanted system keeps six stars, and Game Informer says a new heat system means cops gather information from reported incidents based on your appearance and where you were at the crime scene. Changing your hairstyle and clothes, bought from retail stores and salons, and ditching the escape vehicle helps Jason and Lucia shake a potentially lethal response. Rob Nelson gave IGN the same heat-system framing on August 27, 2026, so the underlying idea is not new; see our wanted system explainer for the star and icon reading. Splitting up can divide police attention if they know they are chasing a pair, and Game Informer adds that getting arrested gives a “Busted” screen even if the other protagonist escapes; the line is on screen at 26:00 in his video.

That “Busted” line sits awkwardly with something SubscribeForTacos said in his earlier wanted-system video: that whoever is arrested gets a busted symbol and respawns while the other keeps trying to escape. That earlier claim is his reading of Rockstar’s footage, not a Rockstar statement, and neither he nor Game Informer explains the difference.

The car-theft section, “Carjacking Evolved”, recaps what Game Informer says Rockstar shared earlier: depending on the vehicle you may steal it the old-fashioned way or need specialized tools, and expensive cars may carry security systems and trackers. A new phone app called WAiNK scans a vehicle to reveal those features, the cost of registering it as your personal vehicle and its estimated value if you sell it to a fence. SubscribeForTacos says he covered this months ago. No fees, fence rates or payouts are given anywhere in the story. For planning around this, use the heist planner.

Two more phone items are in the recap: a ride-share app called RydeMe for fast travel, with chat if you share a ride, and Snapmatic returning, though Jason and Lucia will not post because they are wanted criminals. Game Informer also says the map is improved to resemble satellite imagery and that radio stations have new licensed songs and ads.

What is new in Game Informer’s story and what was already public?

SubscribeForTacos’s view is that about 90 percent of the story was already known, with maybe two pages of new information. The table sorts the items by what our records show. “Not found earlier” means we have no earlier source, not that Rockstar never said it.

Item	New in Game Informer’s story, or already public	Source
Map twice as large as GTA V	New as a Rockstar-attributed figure; earlier a creator’s claim	Aaron Garbut, via Game Informer
Six regions including Mount Kalaga	Already public	Rockstar’s region pages
Localized storms, persistent puddles, rainbows, wind	New	Owen Shepherd, via Game Informer
Tropical storms and hurricanes	New; frequency and gameplay effect not given	Game Informer, Shepherd
170+ animal species, 60+ birds, 30+ land mammals	New	Game Informer exclusive, Michael Kane
Rare, Discoverable and Legendary animals	New; identities secret	Game Informer exclusive
Northern countryside activities list	New	Paul MacPherson, via Game Informer
Orlando and Space Coast not in the game as exact locations	New	MacPherson, via Game Informer
Six-star wanted level	Already public	IGN, August 27, 2026
Heat system: appearance, clothes, vehicle	Already public; Game Informer adds salons	Rob Nelson to IGN, August 27, 2026
Missions gated by income; solo or duo; loud or quiet	Not found earlier	Game Informer
“Busted” screen even if the partner escapes	Not found earlier; differs from a creator’s reading	Game Informer
WAiNK, RydeMe, Snapmatic, satellite-style map	Not found earlier; the creator says the WAiNK part is old	Game Informer, recap section
Kayaking as an activity	Already public in a Mount Kalaga screenshot	Rockstar Games

What is still not known about GTA 6?

GTA 6 is not out until November 19, 2026, and this article rests on a press preview, so it is not the shipped game. Game Informer’s account of the developers’ words is a preview, and only the passages inside quotation marks are Rockstar’s exact words as printed. Open items: how often hurricanes strike and what they change; which animals are Rare, Discoverable or Legendary; what tracking or hunting pays; which missions the income gate locks; what a robbery pays; how WAiNK’s registration cost and fence value are calculated; how the “Busted” screen fits with the partner respawning; and whether the “Leonida-Gloriana line” is Rockstar’s wording. Nothing in the video or the story answers those, and this page will be updated when Rockstar or the game does. All twelve screenshots are explained in the 12 new Game Informer screenshots, one by one.