Rockstar’s Aaron Garbut says GTA 6 roads are narrower on purpose, with denser traffic
By Lorcan Pettifer Fact-checked by Terrence Abiola Updated
CONFIRMED
GTA 6 will have “significantly” narrower roads than GTA 5 and denser traffic, according to comments from Rockstar North’s Aaron Garbut relayed by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier. The same reporting says Rockstar spent “months, if not years” trying to replace the weapon wheel and then kept it. Both details come from Garbut and Schreier in a video, not from an official Rockstar announcement.
Key takeaways
- Garbut told Schreier GTA 6’s roads are “significantly” narrower than GTA 5’s, a choice made early in development.
- The tighter streets meant more buildings and denser traffic, which Garbut called “ripple effects.”
- Schreier says Rockstar tried many weapon wheel replacements and ended up back at the wheel.
- No Rockstar or Take-Two channel has published the road, wheel or carry-limit details.
- The launch date stands at November 19, 2026, on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
What we know
The road change comes from a Rockstar developer speaking to a reporter with a strong record on the studio. Rockstar has not published it on any of its own channels.
Rumor: GameSpot reports that Jason Schreier (Bloomberg) said Garbut told him GTA 6’s roads are “significantly” narrower than those in GTA 5. Per Schreier, Rockstar made the choice on purpose, and players will face denser traffic as a result. This is the “unexpected change” that ComicBook.com describes in its own coverage.
Rumor: GameSpot, citing Schreier, also reports that the narrower roads were part of the plan from the beginning of development. Garbut said the decision had “ripple effects”: the team had to build more buildings and change how it constructed the world around those tighter streets.
The comments come from Schreier’s October 19, 2026 YouTube video, “Some New Things I Learned About Grand Theft Auto VI And Rockstar.” It runs about 18 minutes and covers material that did not make it into his written piece. GameSpot says the video also covers the weapon wheel and development years Schreier described as “dark.” It followed Bloomberg Businessweek’s October 14 feature on the making of GTA 6, which Schreier wrote after visiting Rockstar North in Edinburgh.
Did you know?
According to Bloomberg’s October 2026 reporting, GTA 6’s development is run by three managers: Rob Nelson, Phil Hooker and Aaron Garbut. Garbut has been Rockstar North’s art director since the 3D era of the series.
ComicBook.com’s headline suggests Rockstar formally “confirmed” the change. The sourcing does not support that. No Rockstar Newswire post or press release on the roads could be found, and ComicBook.com’s own article credits the details to Schreier. MP1st’s “Rockstar confirms” framing has the same problem. This is a Rockstar developer’s statement relayed through a reporter.
ComicBook.com also says Schreier “went hands on” with the game. Forbes describes the previews as hands-off, and other coverage describes a hands-off demo. Treat the hands-on claim as unsupported.
Confirmed: Take-Two has repeatedly stated that GTA 6 launches November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. CEO Strauss Zelnick restated the date in Take-Two’s May 2026 earnings release and again in August. The date itself followed a delay, which Variety reported in November 2025, that moved the game off its earlier May 26, 2026 slot. Take-Two has not announced a PC version.
What is rumored
Three gameplay claims came out of the same reporting cycle: a kept weapon wheel, a possible carry limit and a new sprint button. They carry very different levels of credibility.
| Claim | Source | Status | Credibility call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon wheel kept after years of tests | Schreier video, relayed by TechRadar, GameSpot, Mezha | RUMOR B | Likely accurate, first-hand reporting |
| Weapon wheel replaced by an “RDR2-like gun system” | Headlines including PlayStation Universe | DEBUNKED B | Schreier describes a return to the wheel |
| Carry limit of two handguns and two long guns | Secondary outlets, fan reading of the September 2022 leak | RUMOR C | Ambition reported, number unconfirmed |
| Sprint moves to L3 | YouTuber MikeShowSha | RUMOR D | Single source, unproven record |
The weapon wheel stays
Schreier’s account is that Rockstar tried to get rid of the weapon wheel and failed to find anything better. Rumor: per write-ups from TechRadar, MP1st, GamesRadar and Mezha, Schreier said Rockstar spent “months, if not years, trying a million different things that would replace the weapon wheel,” including trays, webs and reportedly no selection interface at all. His conclusion: “in the final game it’s just a weapon wheel again.”
The reported reason is design friction. Mezha’s summary says the team worried that a menu that looked too much like a game would keep showing players what Jason and Lucia could not carry, for example a wheel full of empty slots. RockstarSpy has not reviewed the primary video, so these details rest on consistent secondary coverage of it.
The RDR2 question
Headlines promising an “RDR2-like gun system” go further than the reporting does. Rumor: Schreier said Rockstar “wanted GTA 6’s weapon system to be more like Red Dead, where you couldn’t just carry an unlimited number of guns.” That describes what the developers were aiming for, not a confirmed feature. Rockstar has not said what it did with that goal.
Rumor: several secondary outlets and fan trackers put the limit at two handguns and two long guns, with spare weapons kept in a vehicle trunk or a hideout. Fans have linked this to the September 2022 leak, which Rockstar acknowledged at the time while saying the footage showed early, unfinished work. Later official material matched some of what the leak was reported to contain, but no Rockstar source has confirmed a carry limit or a number.
Agent's note
Read Schreier’s quotes word for word. “Wanted” and “tried” describe the design process. Only “in the final game” describes what ships, and that line is about the wheel, not the carry limit.
Sprint on L3
Rumor: Italian YouTuber MikeShowSha, who attended a preview at Rockstar’s Edinburgh studio, claims GTA 6 moves sprint from mashing a face button, as in GTA 5, to clicking the left stick (L3). He also claims drift moves to X so players can free-fire from vehicles. GameSpot covered the sprint claim, and Forbes (Paul Tassi) covered both. This is a single-source claim from a preview attendee with an unproven track record. No Rockstar release confirms it, and nothing yet says whether alternative control layouts will be offered.
ComicBook.com further says Rockstar stated the sprint change was made partly to make movement look more “fluid.” ComicBook.com gives no primary Rockstar source for that quote, and no official backing could be found. Treat it as unverified.
What we don’t know yet
Rockstar has not said how much narrower the roads are in measurable terms, beyond Garbut’s “significantly.” There is no detail on how traffic density changes across Leonida’s districts, times of day or mission states.
We also don’t know how the tighter layout affects police chases, vehicle handling or the long-standing GTA habit of cutting through traffic at full speed. Schreier’s reporting describes the design intent, not how it plays across a full session.
On weapons, there is no official confirmation of any carry limit, its size or where extra guns go. The control changes remain unconfirmed too. Rockstar has not published a controls breakdown.
What it means
Narrower roads with heavier traffic point to a slower, denser street experience than GTA 5’s wide boulevards in Los Santos. Driving will likely be more about threading through gaps than open-throttle cruising. The “ripple effects” Garbut described suggest each block of the city is more built-up, with buildings pressed closer to the street.
That fits earlier statements. NME, quoting a Dazed feature, reported that Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson said GTA 6 aims to be more grounded and reactive than previous entries. Tighter streets and busier traffic are a practical expression of that goal.
Combat looks less like a reinvention. The weapon wheel report points to the familiar way of picking weapons. A carry limit, if it ships, would change how you plan for a fight more than how you select a gun during one.
The broader lesson is about sourcing. ComicBook.com has run several “Rockstar confirms” pieces this month, including one on a much larger art production team citing Schreier. Those are secondary aggregation. The road change is credible because it traces to Garbut via Schreier. It just did not arrive as an official Rockstar announcement.
Confirmed: Take-Two reports its fiscal 2027 second-quarter results on Monday, November 9, 2026, after the US market closes, with a call at 4:30 p.m. ET. It is the company’s last scheduled investor update before launch. Until Rockstar addresses these details on its own channels, treat the roads as likely, the wheel as reported, the carry-limit number as unconfirmed and the RDR2 guns headline as unsupported.
FAQ
Did Rockstar officially confirm narrower roads in GTA 6?
No. Rumor: the detail comes from Aaron Garbut speaking to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, who relayed it in an October 19, 2026 video. No Rockstar Newswire post or Take-Two statement covers it. Because the source is a named Rockstar developer, it is a strong rumor rather than a weak one.
How much narrower are GTA 6’s roads than GTA 5’s?
Nobody has put a number on it. Garbut’s only word, as relayed, is “significantly,” and no lane widths or traffic figures have been published.
Does GTA 6 still have a weapon wheel?
Rumor: yes, per Schreier. He says Rockstar tested alternatives for “months, if not years” and that the final game uses a weapon wheel again. Rockstar has not shown or described the wheel officially.
Can you carry every gun at once in GTA 6?
That has not been confirmed either way. Rumor: Schreier says developers wanted a Red Dead Redemption 2 style limit, and secondary outlets put it at two handguns and two long guns. Rockstar has not confirmed a limit or a number.
Is sprint on L3 in GTA 6?
Rumor: a single YouTuber, MikeShowSha, says it is after attending a preview. Rockstar has not published controls, so treat it as unconfirmed.
When does GTA 6 come out, and on what platforms?
Confirmed: Take-Two says November 19, 2026, on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. A PC version has not been announced.
Byline and sources
- Fact-checked by Terrence Abiola before publication.
- Published · Updated
Checking and sources
- Every claim is checked by Terrence Abiola; anything we cannot confirm is corrected, labelled or removed.
