Grand Theft Auto 6 is shaping up to be Rockstar Games’ most am***ious open world yet, and every new detail only deepens that impression. While Rockstar itself remains characteristically tight-lipped, occasional glimpses from former developers offer a rare and fascinating look behind the curtain. One of the most compelling of these perspectives comes from David O’Reilly, a developer who previously worked on Grand Theft Auto 6’s environments before leaving Rockstar roughly two years ago.

While reviewing the official screenshots and footage released alongside the second major visual drop for GTA 6 Account, O’Reilly shared his thoughts on the game’s environments, scale, atmosphere, and artistic evolution. Having worked directly on locations such as Ambrosia and Mount Kelligga, his observations provide valuable context—not confirmations or spoilers, but informed impressions from someone who helped shape the world of Leonida during its earlier development stages.

What emerges from his commentary is a picture of a game world that feels denser, more expansive, and more immersive than anything Rockstar has created before.

Vice City Reimagined: Density, Detail, and Atmosphere

One of the first locations O’Reilly reflects on is Vice City itself. Having explored the city during early development through debug flight modes, he recalls being struck by how dramatically the environment has evolved since his departure.

What stands out most is the sheer density of detail. Trees, foliage, street furniture, bus stops, traffic cones, basketball courts, balconies, canopies, and countless other incidental elements now fill the cityscape. These are the kinds of details that players might not consciously notice individually, but together they form the texture of a believable world.

Birds populate the skyline, helicopters hover in the distance, and the city seems to stretch endlessly in every direction. According to O’Reilly, the sense of scale is almost overwhelming—Vice City doesn’t just feel large, it feels alive.

Perhaps most intriguing is his brief reflection on weather. While careful not to confirm anything, he imagines storms rolling into the city, skyscrapers disappearing into low-hanging clouds, and dramatic interactions between weather systems and urban environments. Whether storms are fully dynamic or scripted remains unknown, but the implication is clear: GTA 6’s atmosphere is being designed to play a major role in immersion.

Ambrosia: Industry, Elevation, and Open Space

Ambrosia is one of the locations O’Reilly worked on directly, and it clearly holds a special place for him. Unlike the coastal glamor of Vice City, Ambrosia feels industrial, expansive, and surprisingly elevated.

Florida is often thought of as a flat landscape, so the presence of noticeable height immediately sparks curiosity. O’Reilly points out how elevation naturally invites exploration—players instinctively want to know what lies at the top of a hill or beyond a ridge. The industrial visuals, combined with glowing lights stretching into the distance, reinforce the sense of a vast, interconnected world.

He also contrasts GTA 6’s map design philosophy with that of GTA 5. While GTA 5 relied heavily on mountains and hills to break sightlines and create visual variety, GTA 6 appears to embrace openness. Long sightlines, visible landmarks, and uninterrupted vistas convey scale in a different way—less about hiding space, more about proudly displaying it.

One striking image he comments on features fields ablaze, smoke drifting through sunlight. It’s a moment that highlights Rockstar’s growing mastery of lighting and environmental storytelling, transforming static landscapes into cinematic scenes.

Mount Kelligga: Nature, Wildlife, and Promise

If Ambrosia represents industry and openness, Mount Kelligga embodies nature and exploration. O’Reilly describes this region as one of the most visually interesting areas shown so far—and one he personally feels most connected to.

Mud-covered paths, lush hillsides, dense foliage, and wildlife all suggest a location designed for off-road traversal and discovery. A raccoon appears in one shot, while another hints at hunting activity, possibly involving deer-like animals. While nothing is confirmed, these elements strongly suggest expanded wildlife systems and deeper interactions with the natural environment.

O’Reilly repeatedly emphasizes how inviting these landscapes feel. They aren’t just beautiful to look at—they feel full of promise. This is terrain that encourages players to wander off the main path, explore hidden corners, and uncover secrets.

He also notes how dramatically lighting technology has advanced since he last saw the game. In some cases, the environments are so visually refined that they’re difficult to recognize compared to earlier versions. This speaks to Rockstar’s iterative development process, where environments are constantly refined, re-lit, and re-textured over years of production.

A Varied Map: Leonida’s Many Faces

Taken together, Vice City, Ambrosia, Mount Kelligga, the Keys, Port Gellhorn, and the Everglades paint a picture of remarkable environmental variety. O’Reilly highlights how different each region feels, from coastal lowlands and wetlands to industrial zones and elevated countryside.

This variety is crucial. Rather than relying on a single dominant biome, GTA 6 appears to be embracing contrast. Each area has its own tone, color palette, and gameplay potential. For O’Reilly, this diversity represents his ideal open-world map—one that feels cohesive but never repetitive.

Scale and Density: How Big Is GTA 6, Really?

One of the most fascinating parts of O’Reilly’s commentary focuses on how to interpret the scale of the map. He explains how distant landmarks—transmitter masts, smokestacks, city skylines—act as visual waypoints. Seeing the same structures from multiple angles helps players subconsciously grasp just how much land lies between locations.

What surprises him most is the density. Despite the massive scale, the world doesn’t feel empty. Vegetation, buildings, waterways, and environmental details fill nearly every frame. This density is something he hadn’t seen before leaving development, underscoring just how much progress can be made in two years.

Even water changes in tone depending on the region. Greenish hues dominate inland areas and wetlands, while the Keys feature clearer blue waters. These subtle differences reinforce the sense that each area is its own ecosystem.

Water, Exploration, and the Possibility of Caves

Water appears to be a major feature in GTA 6, and O’Reilly seems particularly excited by it. He praises the composition of the shots, which guide the viewer’s eye across islands, waterways, and distant cities while reinforcing scale.

At one point, he speculates—very carefully—about underwater exploration. Florida’s real-world geography is riddled with limestone caves and subterranean waterways, and while he stresses that he doesn’t know what’s in the game, he admits he hopes Rockstar has integrated something similar.

The idea of underwater caves, sinkholes, or interconnected aquatic systems would be a significant evolution from GTA 5’s relatively sparse underwater content. While nothing is confirmed, the emphasis on water suggests that it will be more than just scenery this time around.

Art Over Tech: Life Inside Rockstar

Beyond the environments themselves, O’Reilly offers insight into what it’s like working at Rockstar. He describes himself as a traditional artist rather than a tech-savvy developer, emphasizing that strong artistic fundamentals matter more than software knowledge.

According to him, anyone can learn tools and engines—but artistic vision is what truly drives world-building. He humorously admits that working at a major studio can make you reliant on IT support, joking about how helpless he feels when something goes wrong with his personal PC.

It’s a lighthearted moment, but it also humanizes the massive effort behind GTA 6. These worlds aren’t built by faceless machines—they’re created by artists, designers, and collaborators working together over many years.

Respecting the Process and the NDA

Importantly, O’Reilly is careful to explain what he can and cannot say. Having left Rockstar two years ago, he acknowledges that much of what he worked on has likely been reworked, refined, or replaced entirely. That’s simply how game development works.

He avoids taking credit for specific assets and stresses that it would be inappropriate to point out individual contributions. GTA 6, like GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 before it, is a deeply collaborative effort.

His restraint is a reminder to fans not to pressure developers for information. When artists share impressions or personal experiences, it’s meant to be appreciated—not interrogated.

A World Worth Waiting For

In the end, O’Reilly’s reflections serve one primary purpose: they confirm that GTA 6’s world is something special. The variety, density, lighting, scale, and atmosphere all point toward a game that aims to surpass its predecessors in every meaningful way.

While questions remain—about storms, underwater caves, traversal systems, and hidden secrets—what’s already clear is that Leonida is designed to be explored slowly, deliberately, and with curiosity.



Grand Theft Auto VI Accounts may still be on the horizon, but if these glimpses are any indication, Rockstar’s next open world won’t just be bigger. It will be richer, deeper, and more alive than anything we’ve seen before.