Rockstar’s new open world in the form of GTA VI is getting closer and closer, so it’s time to talk about one of the main characters: the map.

In addition to the “heroes”, the enemies, or even the vehicles of Grand Theft Auto, there is another main character in the series’ games, and it is none other than the map. We spend countless hours exploring it, and it quickly grows close to our hearts without us noticing. All of this will obviously be the case with GTA VI, regardless of when it comes out. The big debate with every new GTA is always “how big is the map?” It’s no surprise, since Rockstar’s games need a large area to tell a sufficiently diverse story. This allows for a variety of missions.

A few leaks about the new GTA have appeared on the Internet recently, but we won’t talk about them now because they refer to the early stages of the game’s development. What matters is what Jason Schreier, one of the most respected journalists in the gaming industry, said.

We’re going to Vice City, or so it seems

In July 2022 and through the medium he works for, the economic portal Bloomberg, Schreier spilled several exciting things about the GTA VI map. Most notably, the confirmation that the new city will be none other than the Miami-inspired Vice City. And this was recently confirmed again.

Vice City was introduced in the Grand Theft Auto game named after the city. (Also, the 2D version of it in the original 1997 GTA.) The map in the 2002 edition was limited to a pair of elongated islands connected by several bridges. It was estimated to be about 5.62 square kilometres. By comparison, GTA V’s Los Santos is 48.15 square kilometres.

Even if we return to Vice City, the map will have to undergo a radical change, starting with size. You don’t necessarily need exponential growth, despite the two generations between the release of GTA V and GTA VI. However, growth is definitely required compared to the title two decades ago.

One sprawling city in GTA VI inspired by Cayo Perico?!

In fact, this is what happened with GTA: San Andreas and GTA V as well. They may be the same city, but the reality is that the two maps have little to do with each other. The iconic locations remain, but the vast rural setting of Blaine County and even new neighbourhoods are added.

GTA V’s ambitious missions needed space for aeroplanes, really high-speed, and things like highways or straight-up mountains to showcase all kinds of environments. Hopefully, this will happen for GTA VI as well. At the same time, journalist Stephen Totilo warned us about possible restrictions: “One source familiar with Rockstar had told me GTA VI was at one point planned to have three cities and four protagonists […] I like the sound of Jason’s report: one city, two protagonists, plans to expand”.

Although not so emphatically, this already happened in the case of GTA V. GTA Online’s Cayo Perico expansion brought us to an island inspired by the real Norman’s Cay (in the Bahamas), where you could launch a preemptive strike against a cartel. The location can also provide some inspiration for the Florida-Caribbean atmosphere that will be displayed in the sixth part.

Hopefully, with the new GTA Online coming with GTA VI, the expansions will be even more pronounced in terms of map size. This would be good news for Rockstar, and Jason Schreier already mentioned plans in this direction last summer.

Source: X (1, 2)

As noted in the @axios Gaming newsletter, a source familiar with Rockstar had told me GTA VI was at one point planned to have three cities and four protagonists.

(I like the sound of @jasonschreier's report: one city, two protagonists, plans to expand)https://t.co/WUZoMXJ9tI pic.twitter.com/jnff46KqBP

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) July 29, 2022