Game Informer's GTA 6 cover story: 170+ animal species, hurricanes and ride-share fast travel

Grand Theft Auto VI will have over 170 animal species, tropical storms and hurricanes, and fast travel by ride-share, according to Game Informer's cover story on the game. The story went live in the digital edition of Game Informer issue 382 on Sept. 29, four days after the magazine revealed its cover.

It also names side activities and a phone app for scanning cars to steal, and confirms that choices big and small shape Jason and Lucia's story. GTA 6 launches Nov. 19 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Over 170 animal species

Game Informer reports that Leonida has over 170 animal species across land, air and sea, including flamingos, manatees, pelicans, alligators, green iguanas, cane toads, feral cats and rhesus macaque monkeys. Kotaku and VICE report that the count includes over 60 types of birds and more than 30 land mammals, and VICE lists sharks, whales, rays, turtles and jellyfish among the sea life.

Certain animals are categorized as Rare, Discoverable or Legendary. Rockstar has not revealed which animals are Legendary. Game Informer also describes iridescence, bioluminescence, translucency, varied feather types and new hair and fur systems. Michael Kane, Rockstar's VP of dynamic art, told the magazine the team wanted to faithfully include Florida's diverse animal ecosystem, according to IGN.

Rockstar's own page for Grassrivers, the state's wetlands region, already mentions gators, deadlier predators and strange discoveries in the mangroves.

Tropical storms, hurricanes and localized weather

Tropical storms and hurricanes are in the game, Game Informer reports. Rockstar did not say how often they occur or how they affect gameplay or the story.

Owen Shepherd, Rockstar's VP of art for lighting and rendering, told Game Informer the studio rebuilt its weather system so conditions are far more localized and persistent, with dynamic clouds, as reported by IGN and Kotaku. According to Game Informer, you can stand in sunshine and see rain in the distance, puddles linger after a shower, and rainbows appear in the right light. Kotaku reports that Shepherd also described simulated wind: offshore breezes after sunset, updrafts, wind blocked by buildings, ripples on the water and bending swamp grass.

A map roughly twice the size of GTA V's

Aaron Garbut, co-studio head at Rockstar North, told Game Informer the map is roughly twice the size of GTA V's, according to IGN's and KitGuru's reports of the story. KitGuru reports that he called it the largest world Rockstar has built, and IGN says the emphasis is on density and interiors. Rockstar has not published a size figure of its own.

The cover story again confirms the six regions on Rockstar's site: Vice City, the Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga. IGN reports that the game's story is designed to move players around the map. Our Leonida map guide covers each region.

Side activities, ride-share and social media

The cover story names these side activities, according to IGN: base jumping, billiards, gyms, kayaking, mini golf, scuba diving, street and off-road racing, zoos, air boating and jet skiing.

Fast travel works through ride-share. IGN reports you can hop in a ride-share car and ride along with other passengers you can talk to. The ride-share app's name has not been confirmed.

GTA 6 also has a social media app, Snapmatic. You can browse it, but you cannot post on it yourself, IGN reports. Rob Nelson later explained why in IGN's full interview: Jason and Lucia are on the run, so "You just lurk." Our story on that interview has more.

The WAiNK car scanner, robberies and police

IGN, reporting the story, names the phone's car-scanning app WAiNK and says stolen cars go to a fence. Rob Nelson, co-studio head at Rockstar North, described the scanner to IGN in an interview published Aug. 27: it shows a car's locks, alarms and trackers, along with its resale value and registration cost.

Robberies can be done alone or together, loud or quiet, and your choices set the level of police response, according to IGN's report. The classic "Busted" outcome is still in the game.

Choices shape the story

Rockstar confirmed that choices big and small influence Jason and Lucia's relationship and the wider story, IGN reports from the cover story. That builds on what Nelson told IGN for its Aug. 27 coverage: the relationship is optional, the two remain partners in crime either way, and whether you nurture it affects how their story plays out.

Clothing and NPCs

Kane told Game Informer the team created its biggest range of garments and accessories yet, according to IGN. A caption in Game Informer's feature says the game's NPCs have more diverse body types and distinct physical features.

The cover and screenshots

Issue 382's cover uses original artwork of Jason and Lucia, courtesy of Rockstar Games. Game Informer calls it its November 2026 issue. The magazine published 12 screenshots with the story, hosted on Game Informer's site rather than Rockstar's.

A note on platforms

A Sept. 29 Kotaku article listed PC among GTA 6's platforms. That is an error: no Rockstar or Take-Two announcement lists a PC version, and the game is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S only. Our guide Is GTA 6 on PC? has the details.

For every system Rockstar developers have described so far, from the Criminal Profile to gyms and safehouses, see our GTA 6 gameplay features guide. Our confirmed-facts ledger tracks what is and is not confirmed, and Is it true? checks claims such as the map size.

Update log

• Oct. 8, 2026: The bird and mammal counts now cite Kotaku and VICE, and the sea life cites VICE, the outlet that lists it. We removed a detail about meeting sea life while scuba diving, which we could only find in a report we couldn't open.