Game Informer’s GTA 6 Cover Story: Hurricanes, Local Weather and 170+ Animals
Hub of GTA Editorial Team
Editorial · Hub of GTA
Game Informer's issue 382 went out digitally on September 29, 2026 with GTA 6 on the cover: original Rockstar art of Jason and Lucia in a convertible against the Vice City skyline. The 14-page story by senior associate editor Marcus Stewart, a South Florida native, is built on interviews with Rockstar's lead designers and includes 12 new screenshots. Two sections were released for free: weather and wildlife.
Weather: Local, Not Global
- Leonida has tropical storms and seasonal hurricanes.
- Weather is localised. Cloud systems move across the state, so one region can be dry while another is hit by a storm.
- Rain leaves persistent puddles and wet surfaces, and rainbows can appear after a shower.
- Game Informer says it does not know how often the big storms happen or how they affect gameplay and story. No hurricane footage has been shown.
Wildlife: 170+ Species
- More than 170 species on land, in the air and at sea.
- Florida natives: flamingos, manatees, pelicans, alligators. Invasive species: green iguanas, cane toads, feral cats and rhesus macaques.
- Animals are tiered Rare, Discoverable and Legendary, as in Red Dead Redemption 2, and can be tracked.
- Fur and feather rendering carries over from Red Dead, including iridescence and bioluminescence.
- Animals can be studied at the zoo or in the wild, with each new find checked off a list. Feeding them shifts your Criminal Profile.
- Hunting is listed among Mount Kalaga's attractions, but its mechanics have not been explained.
Our GTA 6 animals page tracks every confirmed species.
What the Screenshots Show
- Mount Kalaga National Park: a cougar stalking deer at a stream.
- Grassrivers: mud-covered locals on an airboat with a dead alligator.
- Leonida Keys: an iguana crossing in front of a mobility scooter; divers among coral, an eel and a sea turtle.
- Dolphins beside the Squalo, a boat from the Ultimate Edition.
How Leonida Was Built
Rob Nelson, co-studio head of Rockstar North, told France's Trois Couleurs that the team started by driving around Florida taking "a ton of pictures", then met consultants. The Everglades, the towns outside Miami and Miami itself sit roughly where they are in reality, in what Nelson called a "warped sort of version of reality". His stated goal is "not to be realistic, it's to feel realistic", and the map is "not one-to-one life-size". The game opens in the Keys at Jason's house from Trailer 2 before opening up. Explore every region on our map.
Original Reporting
Sources
- Game Informer
- IGN
- Trois Couleurs
Hub of GTA covers GTA 6 as an independent fan resource. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.