The Grand Theft Auto series has long been a benchmark for open-world gaming. From the gritty streets of Liberty City to the sprawling metropolis of Los Santos, Rockstar Games has continually pushed the envelope in creating living, breathing urban environments. With the highly anticipated release of GTA 6, expectations are higher than ever. Fans are excited for new cities, refined gameplay mechanics, and deeper storytelling. Yet, one recurring complaint about GTA 6 Money has persisted over the years and represents a critical opportunity for improvement in the next game: the lack of enterable buildings in the free world.

This criticism is not new. Players have long pointed out that, while GTA V boasts a visually stunning and expansive city, much of its interior space remains inaccessible. There are apartments, offices, and casinos that players can enter in mission contexts or as part of online instanced content, but the majority of buildings—restaurants, shops, gyms, and offices—remain off-limits. This limitation affects immersion, role-playing potential, and the overall sense of a "living" city. The excitement of exploring a vibrant urban landscape is muted when so much of it is fundamentally unreachable.

The Limitations of GTA V’s Open World

In GTA V, enterable spaces are mostly confined to mission-based instances or online properties. Apartments, agencies, and certain high-profile locations like the Diamond Casino exist in their own contained instances, separate from the free world. While this allows for detailed interiors without taxing the game’s performance, it comes at the cost of a truly interactive environment. Outside of these instances, the free-roaming player has very few buildings to explore. The strip club, Simeon’s car dealership, and the police station are among the rare exceptions, but these are few and far between.

This lack of accessible interiors impacts not only immersion but gameplay variety. In a recent analysis of GTA Online’s free roam, it became evident just how sparse the city feels without instanced interiors. Attempting to earn money or engage in activities while restricted to the open streets exposes the emptiness of the game world. The outdoor environment, no matter how beautifully rendered, cannot fully compensate for the absence of interactive indoor spaces.

The issue is not simply about aesthetics. Enterable buildings provide players with opportunities for role-playing, exploration, and emergent gameplay. In GTA IV, for instance, players could visit bowling alleys, restaurants, gyms, and other indoor locations in single-player mode. These spaces were minor in gameplay terms, but they added layers of realism and texture to the city. Even simple interactions—walking through a bustling restaurant, watching patrons play pool, or entering a small shop—made Liberty City feel alive. GTA V, by contrast, lacks this level of depth, which contributes to the perception of Los Santos as less “lived in.”

Learning from Online Expansions and DLC

Recent developments in GTA Online hint at ways Rockstar could address these limitations. The mansion DLC, for example, introduced large properties that players could fully explore, with indoor and outdoor areas connected seamlessly. This kind of design allows players to experience expansive interiors without feeling removed from the larger game world. Applying similar principles on a city-wide scale in GTA 6 could transform how players interact with the environment.

Imagine being able to enter a restaurant, a hospital, or even a fire station while free roaming, witnessing AI characters carrying out their routines. These spaces could be purely cosmetic, enhancing immersion, or they could introduce small gameplay elements—minigames, side missions, or role-playing opportunities. For example, entering a fast-food joint could allow a player to purchase food that provides minor buffs, or a gym could feature training minigames that improve character stats. These additions would make the city feel dynamic, rewarding exploration beyond the main storyline or mission structure.

The Role of Enterable Spaces in Immersion

One of the most compelling reasons for increasing enterable buildings in GTA 6 is immersion. A city is defined not only by its skyline but by the lives of the people inhabiting it. When players are confined to streets and parks, the illusion of a functioning society is incomplete. Enterable buildings bridge that gap, making the world feel lived-in and authentic.

Consider Skyrim, a game lauded for its open-world design despite being set in a less dense, medieval environment. Nearly every building in Skyrim is enterable, and players can interact with furniture, NPCs, and objects. This design creates a sense of agency and encourages exploration. While GTA’s modern cityscape is far more complex, the principle is the same: interior spaces make a world feel tangible. In urban areas where buildings are tightly packed, interiors can be particularly impactful, transforming a simple city street into a network of interconnected experiences.

Balancing Performance and Accessibility

A valid concern arises when discussing fully enterable cities: performance. Cities like Los Santos are massive, with dense populations and complex systems. Rendering every interior simultaneously could strain hardware. However, Rockstar has proven capable of handling such complexity through instance-based designs. The key lies in balancing accessibility with optimization.

GTA Online has already employed instanced interiors effectively. Apartments, agencies, and even casinos are fully explorable, offering detailed environments without compromising performance in the broader city. GTA 6 could expand on this by creating seamless transitions between outdoor streets and indoor spaces, with smart loading techniques to maintain performance. Buildings could exist in the same map but be loaded dynamically when the player enters, much like instanced mission interiors today. This approach preserves city density while vastly increasing interactable spaces.

Potential New Mechanics and Role-Playing Opportunities

Beyond immersion, enterable buildings unlock new gameplay mechanics. Restaurants could serve as gathering points for NPCs and players alike, providing opportunities for social interaction. Shops and stores could introduce commerce mechanics, where players buy or sell goods outside of the standard economy. Hospitals, police stations, and fire departments could integrate small but meaningful missions or events, giving players additional reasons to explore the city.

Role-playing communities, in particular, would benefit immensely. In GTA Online, role-players often struggle with the limitations of non-interactive interiors. Being able to enter offices, apartments, and public buildings enhances their ability to create stories and engage with the city naturally. The more enterable locations there are, the more diverse the scenarios players can enact—from casual daily life to high-stakes heists or criminal endeavors.

A Vision for GTA 6’s Urban Depth

The vision for GTA 6 should be a city where every street corner tells a story, not just through visuals but through playable spaces. While not every building needs to be fully furnished or interactable, a significant expansion of enterable interiors would elevate the game beyond what GTA V achieved. Imagine walking through downtown, stepping into a bustling café, interacting with patrons, and then exiting to chase a criminal across the rooftops. The combination of accessible interiors, dynamic NPCs, and seamless outdoor exploration could redefine the open-world experience.

Additionally, GTA 6 could experiment with scalable interaction. Not every building needs complex gameplay; some could offer visual immersion only, while others provide mini-games or mission opportunities. A grocery store might allow simple shopping interactions, a gym could include basic training minigames, and high-end properties could host social events or criminal planning spaces. This layered approach balances depth with performance, creating a richer world without overwhelming players or systems.

Conclusion: GTA 6’s Opportunity for a Lived-In World

As Rockstar develops GTA 6, one of the clearest lessons from GTA V is the need for a more immersive, interactable city. Enterable buildings are more than cosmetic; they enhance storytelling, gameplay variety, and player engagement. By expanding accessible interiors, Rockstar can create a world that feels alive, responsive, and worth exploring at every turn.

The mansion DLC in GTA Online demonstrates the potential of detailed, explorable properties. Building on this foundation city-wide could transform Los Santos—or whatever city GTA 6 inhabits—into the most interactive urban environment ever seen in gaming. Restaurants, shops, gyms, hospitals, police stations, and even casual residential spaces could all serve as meaningful extensions of the city buy GTA 6 Money.

Ultimately, the success of GTA 6 will not only be measured by graphics, missions, or storytelling but by the depth of the world itself. Expanding enterable interiors is a vital step toward making the city feel alive, immersive, and endlessly explorable. Fans are ready for it, and the technology exists. Rockstar has the opportunity to deliver a game world that not only looks alive but truly feels alive—and in doing so, redefine open-world gaming once again.