Set within the fictional open world state of Leonida—based on Florida—and its Miami-inspired Vice City, the story is expected to follow the criminal duo of Lucia and her male partner.

Grand Theft Auto VI is set in the fictional open world state of Leonida—based on Florida—which includes Vice City, a fictionalised version of Miami.

[18][20] In 2018, The Know reported that the game would be set primarily in Vice City and partly in South America,[21] and in 2021, Tom Henderson claimed its map could evolve akin to Fortnite.

[33] In July, Rockstar announced Red Dead Online would not receive more major updates as development resources were withdrawn to focus on the upcoming game;[34] industry sources stated Rockstar reallocated resources after planned remasters of Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) and Red Dead Redemption (2010) were paused due to the backlash received by Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition (2021).

[55] Its featured song, Tom Petty's "Love Is a Long Road", saw a near-37,000% increase in Spotify streams, had almost 250,000 searches on Shazam, and ranked second on the worldwide iTunes chart.

[57][58][59] In February 2024, Schreier reported that Rockstar requested employees cease remote work and return to offices full time from April "for productivity and security" as development entered its "final stages".

[64][65] Rockstar's parent company Take-Two Interactive's share price dropped by more than five per cent,[66] though other journalists refuted the report and said the game remained "on schedule".

[75] Take-Two responded by submitting takedowns of videos showing or discussing the leaks hosted on YouTube,[74][78] and contacted GTAForums and Reddit moderators to remove access.

[84][85] The Jefferies Group analyst Andrew Uerkwitz called it a "PR disaster" that could potentially delay the game and diminish staff morale, but was unlikely to impact reception or sales.

In solidarity, several developers shared work-in-progress footage of their games[88][89][90] and some, including Cliff Bleszinski, Neil Druckmann, Rami Ismail, and Alanah Pearce, offered sympathies to Rockstar.

[93] Uber acknowledged the potential links to their security breach and noted they were working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Justice.

[98] A 17-year-old boy from Oxfordshire—identified as "teapotuberhacker" and a key member of Lapsus$—was arrested by the City of London Police on 22 September as part of an investigation supported by the National Cyber Crime Unit and American federal law enforcement.