13 years without a new Grand Theft Auto—fans have been waiting a long time. And by all accounts, GTA 6 will truly be that “project of the decade.” Rockstar Games, it seems, isn’t letting us down.
The game’s second trailer was released back in May 2025—almost a year ago. But it still gives us food for thought. The most notable revelation concerns the size of the game world.
“The draw distance is insane,” writes a Reddit user. “Usually, distant objects lose detail and shadows. But here, even cars, road signs, and lampposts are visible.” In another thread, a gamer posted a screenshot of Vice City beach and noted, “It looks like the entire coastline is just as rich. Walking or driving along it is a pure pleasure.” A third adds, “Incredible. I think when we get to Vice City, the game will break the mold.”
Incidentally, the second trailer played a key role in the famous mapping project. Since the first leaks, enthusiasts have been trying to recreate the GTA 6 map, using videos, leaked footage, and screenshots. One of them, IllTry8129, even overlaid the sixth game’s map on the GTA 5 map, highlighting similarities and differences in different colors. According to his calculations, the world of GTA 6 could be 2.16 times larger than Los Santos. The author allows for a margin of error of 10-15%. But if these estimates are accurate, we’re in for more than just a gigantic territory—significantly more activities, missions, and everything we love about the series.
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Scale of the Leonidas Map and Community Opinion
However, not all fans are ready to believe such a scale. “We do not yet have a precise understanding of the actual boundaries,” skeptics rightly point out. And there is some truth to this.
With such a huge map, gamers are already scratching their heads: where to even begin? The story mode will, of course, take you to key locations in Vice City and Leonidas. But the charm of GTA has always been something else—to drop everything and go wherever your eyes take you.
“I love it when the story introduces new areas,” shares one player. “In GTA 5, I found tons of interesting things in the ghetto while I was up to all sorts of mischief.” Another chimed in: “It would be cool to explore a national park. GTA has never seen such an environment before—dense forests, wild nature.” And a third even waxed poetic: “Let the wind take me wherever it wants.”
Where will this wind take us in November? GTA 6’s map promises to be densely packed with detail. And many rightly point out: it is not just size that matters, but content as well. Empty spaces are useless.
If the community’s feedback is any guide, Rockstar is truly creating a world that will be explored for years to come. We can only hope that the technical implementation will be smooth and the game will reach release without any major issues. As a reminder, GTA 6 is releasing on November 19, 2026, for Xbox Series S|X and PlayStation 5.
Comparison of GTA 6 and GTA 5 Map Sizes in Square Kilometers
Fans have already dissected the future hit down to the last pixel, and the final scale is downright terrifying. A team of enthusiasts from Vice City & Leonida State Mapping calculated that GTA 6’s open world will offer gamers at least 125 square kilometers of continuous land. Compared to the previous generation, the new game’s map is approximately 2.1–2.6 times larger than GTA 5’s. The range of figures depends on how exactly water boundaries and coastal islands are counted (which is quite logical). Rockstar has not officially confirmed the metrics yet, but the trend is clear: we’re heading towards a completely new industry standard.
Key Locations and Points of Interest in Vice City
Where did all those kilometers go? Certainly not into empty fields. The bulk of the State of Leonidas is made up of several large metropolises and vast wilderness areas. The much-missed Vice City serves only as the central “sweet spot,” not the sole point of attraction.
This significant expansion of territory gives the developers room to maneuver:
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Completely different biomes. From viscous swamps and dense forests to spacious plantations with rolling hills.
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Hundreds of new points of interest (POIs). Currently, this is the perfect base for trailers, and at release, story quests and side activities will be tightly packed into them.
Land Area Chart in GTA 6 Compared to Previous Games
For the average player, this kind of geography means a simple thing: the campaign will easily consume hundreds of hours. This is especially true if you’re used to tweaking the map and getting distracted by spontaneous skirmishes. Driving between regions will quickly become tiresome. Without a well-designed fast travel system like classic taxis or point-based teleports (the developers will have to find a way around this), we risk getting bogged down in endless highways between cities.
