Stranger Than Heaven director says GTA 6 may force devs to use generative AI

After dropping the release date trailer at Summer Games Fest 2026, Stranger Than Heaven Executive Director Masayoshi Yokoyama has been talking to journalists about the game. While discussing the use of generative AI in video game development, he made an interesting quip that caught my eye, as he explained how Grand Theft Auto 6 may force developers to use the tool in the future.

The use of AI in games is a big topic right now. From Riot embracing it in future games to Arc Raiders pulling back on AI voices, it feels like every game released these days inevitably ends up as part of the wider discussion.

While Yokoyama confirmed that there is no generative AI in Stranger Than Heaven "at all," he still waded into the conversation at Summer Game Fest, where he had an interesting take on GTA 6 and how it could affect the tool's use in the future.

Speaking in an interview panel attended by Dexerto, Ryu Ga Gotoku's Executive Director explains that the anticipated size of GTA 6 could raise the expectations of gamers worldwide, and for developers to match those demands, they may need to use generative AI.

"If the world changes and the only games that people want to play are games on the scale of, for example, GTA 6, that are ten, twenty times the size of the game that we're making, it'll probably come to the point where every maker, every publisher will have to start considering the use of generative AI," he said. "Otherwise, it won't be economically feasible to make a GTA 6 with smaller teams like that."

For now, however, Yokoyama says RGG is "confident that we can make the things that we want to" and doesn't feel that it needs to use a tool to help development, adding, "We don't really have any plans immediately to use generative AI."

The comment makes sense, especially when you consider the expected scale of GTA 6. Leaks suggest that the Vice City map could be twice the size of San Andreas in GTA 5, which is already an expansive location. A world that size requires a lot of assets to ensure it doesn't feel empty, and if you don't have multiple studios working on the game like Rockstar has, generative AI can be a tempting solution.

Instead of spending time creating assets that are background additions not relevant to the game's story, you could just use the tool instead. Of course, employing AI to create assets inevitably means you end up losing some of the human touch that can only come from game developers, and perhaps the kind of fun easter eggs we all enjoy finding.

Ryu Ga Gotoku, however, has got other pressing matters at hand. Stranger Than Heaven has faced criticism for including Tupac in the game posthumously, despite not using generative AI in his recreation, while apparent price creep on Steam has also drawn negativity.