In interviews, the GTA 6 development team reflected on their field research in South Florida. The team traveled from Miami to Key West, later expanding the group for another trip to Florida, accompanied by police officers and gang members to gather material for the game's setting.
Development Lead Rob Nelson stated that the team began with on-site research of the selected setting, evaluating progress and setting goals in roughly eight-week cycles throughout production.
Aaron Garbut recalled that initially only a few members drove from Miami to Key West, before more people joined the Florida field research, including police officers and gang members. He said the guides they traveled with were friendly, but the stories they heard and the places they visited were unsettling, exposing the team to aspects of the city not visible on the surface.
Discussing the game's satirical expression, Narrative Lead Rupert Humphries believed that simply copying reality wasn't interesting enough. Since the game depicts the present day, the team aimed to make it more exaggerated and outrageous.