After more than two decades, Grand Theft Auto is finally returning to Vice City, but this is not the Vice City you remember from 2002. GTA 6 takes place across the entire fictional state of Leonida, Rockstar’s sun-soaked parody of Florida, with a modern Vice City as its glittering centrepiece. The trailers have already shown beaches, swamps, neon boulevards and island chains, suggesting the biggest and most varied map Rockstar has ever built. In this guide, we tour everything known about the GTA 6 map: the state of Leonida, its confirmed locations, how big the world might be, and what activities await across its cities, wetlands and keys.
Welcome to Leonida: GTA 6’s Setting
Leonida is Rockstar’s fictional version of Florida, and it serves as the state-sized playground for GTA 6. The name itself is a play on Florida’s Spanish colonial history, and everything about the setting leans into the Sunshine State’s larger-than-life identity: Latin-Caribbean culture, spring-break tourism, swamp wilderness, hurricane weather and a criminal underworld fuelled by drug smuggling. Rockstar confirmed the Leonida setting in trailer 1, which was packed with social-media-style clips of alligator break-ins, rooftop parties and high-speed boat chases. Unlike GTA V’s San Andreas, which balanced one major city with desert and mountains, Leonida appears to blend dense urban areas with vast subtropical wilderness, giving the map a distinctive personality unlike anything in the series so far.
Vice City: A Modern Reimagining
Vice City returns as the heart of Leonida, reimagined for the modern era. The 2002 original was a loving pastiche of 1980s Miami, all pastel art deco and synth-pop; the new version keeps the neon and the Ocean Drive-style beachfront but layers on contemporary Miami: luxury high-rises, cruise-ship ports, influencer culture, sprawling suburbs and a pounding nightlife scene. Trailer footage shows the city’s iconic beachfront hotels, busy causeways and a downtown skyline far denser than anything in GTA V’s Los Santos. Expect familiar series landmarks reimagined alongside new districts, and a city that feels alive at every hour, from dawn beach joggers to late-night club districts. For longtime fans, exploring how Rockstar has rebuilt this beloved city will be one of the game’s great pleasures.
Confirmed Locations Across the GTA 6 Map
Alongside trailer 2, Rockstar published official descriptions of key locations in Leonida. Vice City is the headline act, but the state stretches far beyond it. The Leonida Keys are a chain of tropical islands connected by long bridges, clearly inspired by the Florida Keys, and likely to be a haven for boating, smuggling missions and secluded hideouts. Grassrivers is the game’s take on the Everglades: a vast, murky wetland filled with alligators, airboats and hidden criminal operations. Port Gellhorn is a faded tourist town of cheap motels and closed attractions, while Ambrosia is a rough biker heartland in the state’s interior. Mount Kalaga National Park offers forested hills and hiking trails on Leonida’s northern edge. Together, these locations promise a map of remarkable variety, where a single drive can take you from art-deco boulevards to swamp shacks to mountain lookouts.
How Big Is the GTA 6 Map?
Rockstar has not released official map dimensions, but community analysis suggests GTA 6’s world could be roughly twice the size of GTA V’s San Andreas. Fan mapping projects, which triangulate trailer footage against real-world Florida geography, estimate a landmass significantly larger than any previous GTA, with far more water: the Keys, the coastline and Lake Leonida add huge explorable aquatic areas. Size alone is not the full story, though. Rockstar’s emphasis appears to be on density and interior spaces: the trailers show packed beaches, busy malls, nightclubs and apartment interiors, suggesting a world with more enterable buildings than ever before. Whatever the final square mileage, Leonida is clearly designed to feel like a living state rather than a city with countryside attached.
Map Features and Activities to Expect
The diversity of Leonida should translate into the widest range of activities in series history. The coastline and Keys point to an expanded boating culture: yachts, jet skis, fishing and underwater diving, with smuggling runs between islands. The Grassrivers wetlands offer airboat rides, hunting and encounters with alligators and other wildlife. Vice City itself will host the classic GTA mix of street racing, nightlife, heists and side businesses, while rural towns like Ambrosia suggest biker gangs, underground fight clubs and chop shops. Dynamic weather, including tropical storms and possibly hurricanes, could reshape how the map plays from moment to moment. If the trailers are any indication, Leonida will reward curiosity: every swamp dock and back alley looks like it is hiding a story.
How the GTA 6 Map Compares to GTA 5
GTA V’s San Andreas set a high bar with its blend of Los Santos, desert, mountains and ocean, but Leonida looks poised to surpass it in both scale and variety. Where San Andreas had one dominant city, Leonida offers Vice City plus distinct satellite towns, each with its own identity. The subtropical setting is also a bigger departure: instead of deserts and pine forests, players get wetlands, mangroves, coral keys and hurricane-prone coastlines. Water played a minor role in GTA V; in GTA 6, with the Keys and an island-dotted coastline, it appears central to exploration and missions. Perhaps most importantly, the map is being built exclusively for current-generation hardware, without the memory constraints of the PS3 era that shaped GTA V’s world. Expect denser crowds, richer detail and far fewer compromises.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is GTA 6 set?
GTA 6 is set in the fictional state of Leonida, Rockstar’s parody of Florida, with Vice City as its main city. The map also includes the Leonida Keys, the Grassrivers wetlands, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga National Park.
Is Vice City the whole map in GTA 6?
No. Vice City is the centrepiece, but the game spans the entire state of Leonida, including islands, swamps, small towns and wilderness areas. The playable world is expected to be roughly twice the size of GTA V’s map.
What are the Leonida Keys?
The Leonida Keys are a chain of tropical islands inspired by the real Florida Keys, connected by long bridges. They are expected to feature boating, beaches, smuggling missions and secluded locations to discover.
Will the GTA 6 map be bigger than GTA 5’s?
Rockstar has not confirmed exact dimensions, but fan analysis of trailer footage suggests Leonida could be around twice the size of San Andreas, with significantly more water and far denser urban detail.
Can you explore underwater in GTA 6?
This is unconfirmed, but the emphasis on islands, coastlines and diving in the trailers strongly suggests underwater exploration will return, likely expanded beyond what GTA V offered.
The GTA 6 map looks set to be Rockstar’s most ambitious world yet: a full state to explore, from Vice City’s neon boulevards to the alligator-filled Grassrivers. As more locations are confirmed in trailers and previews, we will keep this guide updated with everything we learn about Leonida.