Drive-by shooting has been a foundational mechanic of the Grand Theft Auto series since its introduction in Grand Theft Auto: London 1961, and it has evolved across every subsequent entry to become one of the franchise's signature kinetic set-pieces (GTA Wiki, 2024). For Grand Theft Auto VI, scheduled for release on 19 November 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S (Rockstar Games, 2025), the drive-by animation system is widely expected to undergo its most significant overhaul since the transition from the 3D era to the HD era. The September 2022 leak of approximately 50 minutes of work-in-progress footage already revealed gameplay and animation tests, with journalists confirming that drive-by sequences were among the demonstrated mechanics (Wikipedia, 2025). This report consolidates what is known of legacy drive-by animation systems and what can reasonably be projected for GTA VI based on Rockstar's documented technical pipeline, leaked footage, and the second trailer released in May 2025.
In Grand Theft Auto V (2013), drive-by animations represented a substantial refinement over GTA IV's system, leveraging an overhauled Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) alongside the Euphoria behavioural simulation middleware and Bullet physics library (Wikipedia, 2024). Players could aim and fire from any side window of a vehicle using nearly the full weapon roster — pistols, SMGs, micro-SMGs, shotguns and even assault rifles in certain configurations — a notable expansion over the SMG-only restriction of the 3D-era titles (GTA Wiki, 2024). The animation system in GTA V differentiated driver and passenger postures: the driver maintained one-handed grip on the steering wheel while leaning their firing arm out of the window, whereas passengers could pivot more freely, lean further out, and even fire across the cabin. Motorcycle drive-bys were preserved from San Andreas, allowing one-handed handlebar control with off-hand firing. Cover-blending was limited; the cessation of the drive-by typically reset the character to a neutral seated idle, with relatively short transition blends. The first-person re-release in 2014 forced Rockstar to overhaul the entire animation system to accommodate first-person camera framing inside vehicles, adding wrist, forearm and grip animations visible to the player (Wikipedia, 2024). These refinements established the baseline expected to be radically extended in GTA VI.
Several drive-by animation expectations have crystallised from the leaked development footage, the December 2023 and May 2025 trailers, and Rockstar's documented design priorities (Rockstar Games, 2025; Wikipedia, 2025).
Dual-protagonist co-op drive-bys. With Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos established as the series' first simultaneously-controlled romantic-criminal duo (Rockstar Games, 2025), the drive-by system is expected to support context-aware partner animations — Lucia leaning across Jason while he drives, suppressing fire while reloading, or Jason ducking as Lucia fires over his shoulder. The second trailer's "Bonnie and Clyde"-coded framing (Wikipedia, 2025) strongly implies systemic AI-partner shooting choreography rather than scripted cutscene events.
Weapon-specific posture sets. Where GTA V used broadly shared upper-body rigs per weapon class, leaked footage suggests GTA VI will introduce weapon-specific in-vehicle animation sets that account for barrel length, recoil profile and grip type. Long-barrelled weapons should produce visibly braced shoulders and elbow clearance against the door frame; pistols should permit tighter, more compact firing stances.
Window-state and lean dynamics. Animation tests in the leak reportedly included window roll-down sequences as a precursor to firing, alongside dynamic lean systems that respond to vehicle speed, cornering G-forces and target angle. This builds on the Euphoria-driven procedural layering that distinguished Red Dead Redemption 2 and is anticipated to carry into GTA VI via the next-generation RAGE iteration (Wikipedia, 2024).
Convertible, truck-bed and boat firing. Vice City's open-top vehicle culture and the Leonida Keys' boating environment (Rockstar Games, 2025) imply expanded firing positions: standing in truck beds, leaning over jet-ski handlebars, and full-body torso rotation in convertibles unobstructed by a roof line.
Reactive damage and recoil blends. Procedural hit reactions while seated — slumping forwards when wounded, dropping the weapon, or losing grip on the steering wheel causing crashes — are expected refinements consistent with Rockstar's Euphoria pipeline (Wikipedia, 2024).
Drive-by animations in GTA VI are projected to evolve from GTA V's already-robust system into a deeply context-sensitive, partner-aware, physics-blended set of behaviours. The combination of an upgraded RAGE engine, the dual-protagonist structure, and Vice City's open-top vehicle ecology positions the mechanic as a likely showcase of Rockstar's animation craft.
GTA Wiki (2024) Drive-By Shooting. Available at: https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Drive-By_Shooting (Accessed: 14 May 2026).
Rockstar Games (2025) Grand Theft Auto VI – Official Site. Available at: https://www.rockstargames.com/VI (Accessed: 14 May 2026).
Wikipedia (2024) Grand Theft Auto V. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_V (Accessed: 14 May 2026).
Wikipedia (2025) Grand Theft Auto VI. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_VI (Accessed: 14 May 2026).