Grand Theft Auto 6 is shaping up to be one thing a lot of big games these days aren’t: made entirely by hand. Rockstar Games has confirmed that GTA 6 will launch without microtransactions. No generative AI was used in its development either.
Why should you care if you’re not even a gamer? Companies across entertainment, from music to movies to games, have been quietly leaning on AI tools to cut costs, and audiences have unsurprisingly been pushing back.
What Rockstar actually said
The confirmation came from Rob Nelson, co-studio head at Rockstar North. Hosts from the Kinda Funny Gamecast pressed him on both questions during a preview visit to the studio. Asked whether players could spend real money inside GTA 6, Nelson said no. And when he was asked whether AI was used to help build the game, he gave the same answer.
The New York Times backed this up in its own feature on the game, reporting that Rockstar stressed the “human-made craft” behind it. The publication noted GTA 6 contains more than 600,000 animations. That’s compared to roughly 55,000 in Grand Theft Auto V and about 300,000 in Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar’s last major release.
That being said, Rockstar’s answer only covers the single-player game launching November 19 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The studio declined to say anything about a future GTA Online mode. That mode has made billions for parent company Take-Two through in-game purchases over the past decade, so it doesn’t really make sense for them to give that up.
Not every studio is saying no
What makes Rockstar’s stance stands out is because there have been several publishers who have gone the opposite direction. Activision kept AI-generated assets in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 even after players called them out. Ubisoft admitted AI-made art slipped into Anno 117: Pax Romana and had to pull it out after backlash.
Electronic Arts has publicly shown off its own AI tools for building game environments. CD Projekt Red, maker of The Witcher, has said its next game will avoid generative AI too.
This just shows how divided this issue still is across the industry. Some studios see AI as a way to build games faster and cheaper. Others, including Rockstar, think good old elbow grease will prevail. Now, none of this will determine if a game is successful or not. But for gamers worried that AI is about to invade gaming, they can rest assured that it won’t, at least not for GTA 6.