GTA VI will have hurricanes: Rockstar rebuilds Leonida's weather from the ground up

Rockstar is opening the door to Leonida once again, and this time it's the wind that blows in. As reported by Vandal, citing issue 382 of Game Informer, which features a 14-page special on Grand Theft Auto VI, the game will include a dynamic weather system capable of generating the kind of extreme conditions Florida is known for: from a gentle sea breeze all the way to tropical storms and hurricanes.

It might look like just another technical detail, but it isn't. In an open world, weather shapes how things look, how they feel and, potentially, how the game plays. If Rockstar has decided to completely rebuild this system, it's because it wants Vice City and its surroundings to be more than a pretty backdrop: a place that changes and reacts. And when we're talking about the most anticipated game in the industry, any system that alters the experience deserves a close look.

What you need to know

• Issue 382 of Game Informer includes a 14-page special on GTA VI with new details about Vice City and Leonida.
• The game will feature a dynamic weather system with extreme events, including hurricanes and tropical storms.
• The details come from Owen Shepherd, one of Rockstar's lead lighting and rendering developers.
• The system has been rebuilt from scratch to deliver weather events with more precise placement on the map and greater persistence.
• That means you could be under blazing sunshine in one part of Leonida while the weather is completely different somewhere else.

Weather that's no longer global

Until now, in many open worlds, weather has worked like a switch: it's either raining or it isn't, and it usually affects the whole map at once. What Shepherd describes points in a different direction. By talking about more localized and persistent events, Rockstar is hinting at a map with microclimates: a storm that lingers over a specific area, a front that moves in or holds its ground, while a few miles away the day stays clear.

It's no coincidence that the person discussing this is the lead for lighting and rendering. Weather is, above all, a visual challenge: light filtering through heavy clouds, wet asphalt, the sky shifting color as a storm rolls through. Rockstar has spent years using atmosphere as one of its greatest storytelling tools, and everything suggests it wants to push that even further in GTA VI, with Florida as the perfect excuse.

Why is Florida such a good fit?

Leonida is Rockstar's take on Florida, and few places are as closely tied to extreme weather as that state. Tropical storms and hurricanes are part of its identity, so including them isn't just a technical flex: it's staying true to the setting. It would be strange to recreate that atmosphere and leave out the very thing that defines it most.

Our take

Here at Underworld Lordz, we're clear on this: it's great news for content creators. Localized, persistent weather is gold for any creator. Imagine recording a chase that starts in the sunshine and ends in the middle of a storm, or putting together a cinematic clip with a hurricane battering the coast. The possibilities for thumbnails, streams and exploration videos are huge, and we'll probably see the community "storm chasing" across Leonida from day one.

From a competitive standpoint, though, we have more questions than answers. The source doesn't say whether weather will affect gameplay, such as driving, visibility or vehicle handling, or whether it will play a role in a potential online component. If it ends up influencing ranked activities or races, we'll need to see how the randomness is handled. No competitive player wants to lose a race because they got the hurricane and their opponent didn't. A system like this needs clear rules, or the option to lock conditions in organized modes.

And one more fundamental criticism: it's fine to celebrate every technical detail, but the community has been living on scraps for a long time. A 14-page magazine special is a decent meal, but what we really want to see is how all of this translates into the game itself, in motion and without the promotional filter. Until then, stay cautious: hype is free, but runaway expectations come at a price.

What do you think?

Do you think hurricanes and localized weather could genuinely change the way GTA VI plays, or will it end up as just a visual spectacle? Would you like weather to affect races and competitive modes, or would you rather be able to turn it off? Tell us where you stand in the team chat or drop by our Discord: is extreme weather a smart move or a risk for competitive play?