GTA 6: Rockstar defends 10-second refuelling — 'pretty fast for a fill-up'
GTA 6 will require players to refuel at gas stations, with an animation lasting around 10 seconds, and stations will also handle repairs and EV charging. During a preview overseen by the studio, Rockstar co-studio head Rob Nelson called the fill-up 'pretty fast' but also asked whether players will like the feature. The mechanic first appeared in leaked gameplay footage and quickly divided the comm
Refuelling has quietly become one of the most talked-about mechanics in Grand Theft Auto VI — and for the first time, someone from inside Rockstar has addressed the debate head-on.
The subject resurfaced this week through Australian creator TGG, who attended an extended preview of the game and described in detail how the refuelling system works. His account, picked up by PC Gamer and GamesRadar+, landed as fans were still arguing over leaked footage showing cars pulling up to pumps. What stood out was not just the mechanic itself, but the reaction of the person overseeing the demo: Rob Nelson, co-studio head at Rockstar, who watched the refuelling sequence play out and shrugged: "Hey, that's pretty fast for a fill-up. You can't complain about that."
Filling up in Vice City
According to TGG, gas stations in GTA 6 will do more than sell snacks. They let players refuel internal-combustion cars, recharge electric vehicles and carry out repairs. Selecting the refuel or recharge option triggers a short cutscene — around ten seconds, TGG estimates — during which the pump does its work. For a series that has never forced players to think about fuel, it is a small but real shift toward the simulation-heavy direction Rockstar has been exploring since Red Dead Redemption 2.
That direction is exactly what has divided the community. For some, watching a fuel gauge tick down in a game built around high-speed chases and shootouts sounds like an interruption in search of a problem. Others have welcomed the news, noting that ten seconds is barely longer than the game's own animation-heavy door sequences, and that the choice of vehicle, the route taken and the money spent at the pump could add texture to the open world.
A studio that knows it is taking a risk
The most telling part of TGG's account is how Rockstar itself seems unsure. Nelson, who oversaw the preview session, reportedly asked the creator: "Do you think people are going to like it?" before adding, "We'll see what people say." For a company that usually presents its design choices with absolute confidence, it is a rare moment of visible hesitation — and a sign that the team is monitoring reception closely as the November launch approaches.
TGG's own verdict is reassuring for anyone worried about spending half the game at the pump: "Fuel isn't really going to be an issue unless you're not thinking about what you're doing." In other words, the system is designed to punish absent-minded driving rather than to turn every trip across Leonida into a logistical chore. The leak-driven controversy, he suggests, may have made the feature look far more intrusive than it will feel in practice.
A familiar debate
Rockstar has been here before. When Red Dead Redemption 2 shipped in 2018, players complained about the weight of its simulation — Arthur Morgan's deliberate movements, the fiddly saddlebag inventory, the slow-burning camp chores. GTA 6 looks set to make its own bet on realism, and refuelling is the most visible example yet. The difference this time is that the studio is asking the question out loud, and the answer will only come when the game reaches PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19, 2026.
For now, the takeaway is simple: refuelling exists, it takes about ten seconds, and Rockstar is betting that most players will shrug exactly the way Nelson did in that preview room. Whether the wider community agrees is another story — and even Rockstar admits it does not know yet.
