Rockstar tested a million alternatives before keeping GTA VI’s weapon wheel, Schreier says
The report attributed to the journalist describes attempts to combine extra weapons in the car with a more limited portable arsenal before returning to the circular format.
Rumor: this information has not yet been officially confirmed.
According to Jason Schreier, Rockstar Games spent months — possibly years — testing alternatives to the circular weapon wheel, the menu used to select and switch weapons, in Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA VI). The idea was to limit how weapons could be carried, stored, and selected, using a model closer to Red Dead Redemption 2.
The journalist shared the information after visiting Rockstar North, the Rockstar Games studio responsible for the series, and speaking with Rob Nelson, the studio’s co-head and head of development. According to Schreier, Nelson described the search for a weapon system closer to the one used in Red Dead Redemption 2.
According to Schreier, the goal was for GTA VI to move closer to Red Dead Redemption 2, another Rockstar game in which players cannot carry an unlimited number of weapons with them. In the proposal he described, the character would carry only a few weapons, while the rest would be stored in the car.
The problem, according to Schreier, was that a traditional circular weapon wheel could highlight the empty slots left by the weapon limit. As a result, the team reportedly experimented with menus arranged in panels, grids of options, and other formats, including versions without the circular weapon wheel.
In the video where he discussed the visit, Schreier summarized the process by saying that the team tried “a million different things” to replace the circular weapon wheel. In the end, he said, the team returned to the familiar format, shown in the official material “Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look,” released on August 27, 2026.
Schreier linked these attempts to a development phase that Rob Nelson called a “dark period,” when the game’s vision had not yet been solidified. According to the journalist, the project began to take shape between late 2022 and early 2023; this date does not specifically refer to the menu tests.
Rockstar has not officially detailed the internal tests or how the final system works. The history of the circular weapon wheel therefore remains a report attributed to Schreier, while the menu’s presence was shown in the game’s official material.
Grand Theft Auto VI, from Rockstar Games, is set in the fictional state of Leonida and will launch on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The circular weapon wheel has already appeared in the official material “An Extended Look,” published by Rockstar Games in August 2026.
According to Jason Schreier, the idea involved characters carrying only a few weapons, with extra equipment stored in the car.
The report mentions tray- and grid-based options, along with other variations intended to replace the circular weapon wheel.