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Vice City at night from above: the downtown towers, the bay, a lit arena and searchlights sweeping the sky.

GTA 6 Game Informer cover story: hurricanes confirmed, 170 animal species, a map twice GTA V's size

Game Informer's GTA 6 cover story is out: tropical storms and hurricanes will hit Leonida, the map holds over 170 animal species, NPCs get new body and skin variety, and the world is about twice the size of GTA V's.

ReportedFiled 4 min readImage: Rockstar Games via Game Informer

Overview

Confirmed Game Informer published its Grand Theft Auto VI cover story on Tuesday, September 29: “Grand Theft Auto VI – Welcome to Leonida”, a 14-page feature in issue 382 by senior associate editor Marcus Stewart, a lifelong South Florida resident, built on interviews with Rockstar’s lead designers. The digital issue went live at noon Eastern, and most of the feature on Game Informer’s site is for subscribers. We previewed the issue on September 28.

Reported The biggest new details: tropical storms and hurricanes will hit Leonida, the state holds more than 170 animal species, the people of Vice City get a new range of body types, skin details and tattoos, and the map is roughly twice the size of GTA V’s.

Key facts

  • Reported Storms: tropical storms and hurricanes are confirmed for Leonida. How often they come, and what they do to missions or the story, was not shared.
  • Reported Wind: a new dynamic wind system, with offshore breezes after sunset, convection updrafts and buildings that block the wind.
  • Reported Wildlife: over 170 species, including more than 60 kinds of bird, more than 30 land mammals, and fish and reptiles.
  • Reported Named animals: manatees, flamingos, pelicans and alligators.
  • Confirmed NPCs: “more diverse body types and distinct physical features”, in the words of a caption on Game Informer’s page.
  • Reported Map: the biggest Rockstar has built, about twice the size of GTA V’s world, and denser and more detailed.

Weather: hurricanes, tropical storms and wind

Reported Leonida “will indeed experience tropical storms and hurricanes”, according to Game Informer’s interview with Rockstar, as quoted by iGrandTheftAuto.com. The feature adds that Shepherd, one of the Rockstar developers it interviewed, did not say how often the big storms arrive or how they change gameplay or the story.

Reported A major storm brings heavy clouds, strong winds, a dense atmosphere and torrential rain. Water drips from the scenery and pours off rooftops and lampposts, and thunder rolls while lightning lights up the clouds from inside.

Reported VICE, summarizing the feature, reports that weather in GTA 6 is local and persistent, so one part of the map can be under a storm while another is clear, and that a dynamic cloud system runs from clear winter skies to towering storm clouds.

Reported The wind has been rebuilt too: breezes blow offshore after sunset, warm air rises in convection updrafts, and buildings block the wind behind them. Wind makes hair and debris swirl on rooftops, ripples the water and bends the swamp grass.

Wildlife: more than 170 species

Reported GTA 6 has over 170 animal species across its map, including Leonida natives that have never appeared in a Rockstar game before. That count covers more than 60 kinds of bird and more than 30 land mammals, plus fish, reptiles and more.

Reported Michael Kane, Rockstar’s vice president of dynamic art, confirms manatees, flamingos, pelicans and, as the trailers already showed, alligators, according to a summary of the feature shared on X.

Our read A manatee already had a starring role this month: Chunkee the Manatee, one of Macca the Gator’s “wetland friends” on Rockstar’s collector’s box. Now real manatees swim in Leonida’s water too.

The people of Leonida

Confirmed One caption on Game Informer’s page reads: “GTAVI’s NPCs feature more diverse body types and distinct physical features.”

Reported Citizens come in different heights and builds, with musculature and weight that vary across the chest, stomach and rear. Skin shows freckles, moles and tanning. Rockstar researched tattoo styles to match Leonida’s different communities and regions, and hair and grooming are more detailed, with many more ethnic hairstyles than before.

The map: twice GTA V, and dense

Reported Leonida is the biggest map Rockstar has made, by a wide margin: roughly twice the size of GTA V’s world, and much denser, more detailed and more interactive. VICE lists its six regions as Vice City, the Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga National Park.

Reported Rockstar says it obsessed over every part of the world, from rooftops and alleys to the insides of buildings and the spaces between them. There are so many interiors that buildings are meant to feel real inside and out, and the whole state is built as one connected place rather than separate zones.

Reported VICE also lists activities from the feature: base jumping, billiards, gyms, kayaking, mini golf, scuba diving, street and off-road racing, zoos, airboats, jet skis, and dates such as hiking.

The 12 screenshots

On screen Game Informer’s twelve exclusive screenshots show Vice City’s skyline at night and a packed beach, which the magazine’s own page shows for free, plus a waterfall and a wooden bridge in a park, a storm over the Keys with a seaplane, a rider on an ATV with a rifle beside a creek full of deer, a wetland at sunrise full of birds, a biker aiming a pistol, a swamp dock at night, Jason with a bat in a shop, Lucia with a rifle, and a couple in a bar.

Reported Game Informer shows two of the twelve on its free page and keeps the other ten in the paid feature; PCQuest reports that the magazine has restricted sharing of those. All twelve are on this page: the skyline at the top and the other eleven in the gallery, credited to Rockstar Games and Game Informer.

Questions

Does GTA 6 have hurricanes?

Reported Yes. Game Informer’s cover story says tropical storms and hurricanes will hit Leonida. Rockstar did not say how often they come or how they change missions and the story.

How many animals are in GTA 6?

Reported More than 170 species, according to Game Informer: over 60 kinds of bird, over 30 land mammals, plus fish and reptiles. Manatees, flamingos, pelicans and alligators are named.

How big is the GTA 6 map?

Reported Roughly twice the size of GTA V’s world, and the biggest map Rockstar has made, according to the feature.

Where can I read the Game Informer GTA 6 cover story?

Confirmed In Game Informer issue 382. The digital issue is out for subscribers on Game Informer’s site and app, and print copies reach subscribers and stores in the coming weeks.

When does GTA 6 come out?

Confirmed November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Pictures

A crowded Vice City beach: sunbathers on loungers, umbrellas, an American flag and a lifeguard tower behind them.
A crowded Vice City beach: sunbathers on loungers, umbrellas, an American flag and a lifeguard tower behind them. Image: Rockstar Games via Game Informer
A wooden footbridge beside a waterfall in a wooded park, with people and a dog crossing.
A wooden footbridge beside a waterfall in a wooded park, with people and a dog crossing. Image: Rockstar Games via Game Informer
A sunlit field with a low-flying crop plane, a white pickup truck, people walking and a water tower in the distance.
A sunlit field with a low-flying crop plane, a white pickup truck, people walking and a water tower in the distance. Image: Rockstar Games via Game Informer
A seaplane over the Leonida Keys as a storm rolls in, with lightning striking over the islands.
A seaplane over the Leonida Keys as a storm rolls in, with lightning striking over the islands. Image: Rockstar Games via Game Informer
Jason, a rifle on his back, rides an ATV beside a creek where deer are drinking.
Jason, a rifle on his back, rides an ATV beside a creek where deer are drinking. Image: Rockstar Games via Game Informer
A misty wetland at sunrise: a deer in the reeds, white wading birds and flocks overhead.
A misty wetland at sunrise: a deer in the reeds, white wading birds and flocks overhead. Image: Rockstar Games via Game Informer
Jason, masked in a bandana and a biker jacket, aims a pistol from his motorcycle outside a roadside bar, with chickens in the road.
Jason, masked in a bandana and a biker jacket, aims a pistol from his motorcycle outside a roadside bar, with chickens in the road. Image: Rockstar Games via Game Informer
A swamp dock at night, with figures standing by a lit wooden shack.
A swamp dock at night, with figures standing by a lit wooden shack. Image: Rockstar Games via Game Informer
Jason with a baseball bat on his shoulder behind a shop counter, a man lying on the floor behind him.
Jason with a baseball bat on his shoulder behind a shop counter, a man lying on the floor behind him. Image: Rockstar Games via Game Informer
Lucia, masked with a pink bandana, crouches with a rifle behind a barrel as men stand by pickup trucks.
Lucia, masked with a pink bandana, crouches with a rifle behind a barrel as men stand by pickup trucks. Image: Rockstar Games via Game Informer
A bearded biker and a woman leaning on his shoulder in a neon-lit bar, a pool table behind them.
A bearded biker and a woman leaning on his shoulder in a neon-lit bar, a pool table behind them. Image: Rockstar Games via Game Informer

In the wiki

Confirmed6 min readGrand Theft Auto VIGrand Theft Auto VI is Rockstar Games’ next open-world crime game, set in the state of Leonida with Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, out November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.Confirmed6 min readLeonidaLeonida is the fictional US state where GTA 6 is set, in six regions from Vice City to Mount Kalaga. Rockstar has published no map, and previews put it at about twice GTA V's.Confirmed6 min readVice CityVice City is Leonida's biggest city and the heart of GTA 6: Ocean Beach, Little Cuba, the Tisha-Wocka flea market and VC Port. Previews say it is about twice the size of Los Santos.Confirmed4 min readLeonida KeysThe Leonida Keys are the islands off Leonida's southern tip: Jason Duval's home turf, Brian Heder's boat yard, the Rusty Anchor bar and reefs for scuba diving.