Grand Theft Auto 6 is finally official, and not only is it taking us back to the bright and brazen, Miami-inspired Vice City, but its map also extends into the surrounding swamps, based on Florida’s Everglades. Developer Rockstar Games has only released a 90-second trailer for the game, but we analyzed every moment to piece together as much of GTA 6’s map as possible while comparing various locations to their real-world inspirations. So, let’s explain everything we’ve seen and broken down so far for GTA 6’s map.
GTA 6 Map Breakdown and Key Locations
General Overview
- GTA 6 takes place in Vice City and its surrounding areas, inspired by Florida.
- The map includes swamps, small towns, and urban areas, extending beyond previous Vice City versions.
- Three counties are identified in the trailer:
- Vice Dale County – Likely a fictional Miami-Dade County (Vice City).
- Leonard County – Likely based on Collier County, home to small towns and a prison.
- Kelly County – Likely based on Monroe County, covering the Everglades and Florida Keys.
- Rockstar has structured Florida into a fictional state called Leonida.
Vice Dale County (Vice City & Surroundings)
- Inspired by Miami and Miami-Dade County.
- Ocean Drive recreated with Art Deco buildings, neon lights, and sports cars.
- Famous locations spotted in the trailer:
- Colony Hotel → Boardwalk Hotel (GTA 6 version).
- Royal Palm, Loews Miami Beach, 1500 Ocean Drive condos.
- Continuum, Faena House, and W Hotel.
- Bayfront Heights resembles Miami’s 500 Brickell and Atlantis Condominium buildings.
Strip Clubs & Vice City’s Underground Scene
- GTA 6 features a strip club, likely inspired by Miami’s King of Diamonds.
- Romance options might be limited, as Lucia and Jason appear to be a couple.
Kelly County (Everglades & Swamp Regions)
- Inspired by Monroe County, Florida Keys, and Everglades.
- Features murky swamps, airboats, alligators, flamingos, and stealth-based missions.
- Could serve as a crime hideout or smuggling route for players.
- Islands south of the mainland (fictional Florida Keys) are likely explorable.
Leonard County (Small Towns & Rural Florida)
- Inspired by Collier County & rural Florida.
- Small towns identified in the trailer:
- Catalan Boulevard, Stockyard, Downtown Hamlet, Waiting Sands.
- Pawn and gun store in Port Gorn, suggesting a Wild West-like area.
- The WTVY Tower-inspired broadcast mast could mark a high point in the game world.
- This county houses the prison, where Lucia is first seen in the trailer.
Lucia’s Prison & Criminal Beginnings
- Lucia is introduced in a prison wearing an LDC jumpsuit (Leonida Department of Corrections).
- The prison is in a dry, desert-like area, likely Leonard County.
- She and Jason are seen robbing a store, marking the start of their criminal partnership.
GTA 6’s Social Media Satire & Florida Influence
- The game satirizes Florida’s wild reputation through:
- Planet Leonida Man (Florida Man parody).
- Chaotic small-town events, including viral social media clips.
- Rockstar compresses Florida’s geography, ensuring diverse environments in a single map.
Final Thoughts on the GTA 6 Map
- Three counties form Leonida, a fictionalized version of Florida.
- Vice Dale County (Vice City) → Kelly County (Swamps) → Leonard County (Small Towns & Prison).
- Miami Beach, small towns, Florida Keys, and swamps will be explorable.
- Rockstar is creating its biggest and most detailed GTA map yet.
The Expanded Geography of GTA VI’s Map
Let’s start simple—Grand Theft Auto 5 fully introduced counties to the franchise and featured two: Los Santos County, which encompasses the Los Angeles-inspired city, and Blaine County, the northern region characterized by a vast desert and interesting locals. Not to be outdone, the GTA VI trailer references three counties. Since Rockstar likely wants to make everything bigger and better in its highly anticipated sequel, it makes sense that GTA 6 would have more explorable regions than its predecessor.
These three regions are:
- Vice Dale County, which can be seen on the sheriff’s badge in the background of the news report on a character seemingly based on the Florida Joker.
- Leonard County, which appears on a police car in a fictional social media clip from Planet Leonida Man.
- Kelly County, listed on various road signs.
Vice Dale County: The Heart of GTA 6’s Vice City
Since Vice City is based on Miami, it’s highly likely that Vice Dale County is a fictionalized version of Miami-Dade County, which contains the city and its outskirts, including much of the Everglades. However, the Grand Theft Auto version will likely focus solely on the city itself—just as Rockstar did with GTA 5. The real Los Angeles County includes both the city and much of the area above it, but Rockstar’s Los Santos County only contains the city, while the northern region was reimagined as Blaine County. Counties in GTA are therefore used to separate geographically distinct areas, meaning Vice Dale County will probably include just Vice City and perhaps a taste of its outskirts.
Leonard County: Small-Town America in Grand Theft Auto VI
Determining the other two counties—Leonard and Kelly—requires more effort. Looking at a map of Florida, Miami-Dade County lies in the southeast and is bordered on its western side by Monroe County (slightly south) and Collier County (slightly north). Above Miami-Dade lies Broward County, but while its real-life cities, like Fort Lauderdale, are distinct, they still lie within the Miami metropolitan area and may be too aesthetically similar to Vice City to be included separately.
Because of this, GTA VI will likely feature fictional versions of Monroe County and Collier County alongside Vice Dale. One of these counties will probably include the Everglades-inspired swamp area, while the other will cover the prison and dusty small town seen in the trailer. But which is which?
The Planet Leonida Man social media clip referencing Leonard County shows a small-town gas station, and the blue-and-yellow signage is a clear reference to Sunoco. This gas station chain has locations across the United States, but as seen in the image below, none are in the southwestern, swampy Everglades area. This places the gas station—and the Leonard County police car—in the northwestern area, likely a fictionalized Collier County.
Kelly County: The Swamps and Everglades of GTA 6’s Map
This would make Kelly County the fictionalized Monroe County, and various road signs support this. We see Kelly County referenced twice in the trailer—once when a girl waves her arms while driving through Vice City in a convertible, and again in the General Custer Cannon social media clip, seemingly just outside the city. It makes sense that road signs in Vice City (southeast) would point first to the southwestern region before offering directions to the farther northwestern area, suggesting Kelly County represents the Everglades-inspired area.
The GTA 6 Map: How Leonida is Structured
So, the GTA 6 map will likely feature:
- Vice Dale County (containing Vice City) in the southeast.
- Kelly County (covering the Everglades) in the southwest.
- Leonard County (scattered small towns and a prison) in the northwest.
Together, they form Leonida, Rockstar’s fictional take on Florida.
Though nothing is confirmed yet, fans believe they have an idea of how the state will be laid out after spotting what could be a map in the GTA VI key art. By zooming into the bottom right corner, a notice board includes what appears to be a map resembling southeast Florida, though it seems incomplete. A Miami Beach-like area can be seen as an offshoot of the mainland. Whether this is the official map remains to be seen, but regardless, now that we have the general lay of the land, let’s look at some specific spots in the trailer.
GTA VI’s Miami Beach: Iconic Locations and Landmarks
Miami Beach is broken down into three main areas—the most iconic South Beach, plus Mid-Beach and North Beach. The original Vice City labeled these as Ocean Beach, Washington Beach, and Vice Port, respectively, but there’s no indication if these names will carry over yet.
One shot in the GTA 6 trailer is reminiscent of the original Vice City’s boardwalk and Ocean View Hotel, recreating the iconic atmosphere of South Beach, complete with its Art Deco buildings, neon signs, and flashy sports cars. Ocean Drive is arguably Miami’s most famous street, packed with hotels and bars in the Art Deco style, featured in films like Scarface, The Birdcage, Charlie’s Angels, and more. It epitomizes Miami’s allure and will no doubt play a central role in Grand Theft Auto 6.
Sitting at the focal point of Ocean Drive is the Colony Hotel, recreated in GTA VI as the Boardwalk Hotel. Opened in 1935, the Colony Hotel is the poster child of South Beach, a beautiful Art Deco building that stands out among the hundreds surrounding it. Perhaps this is where Lucia and Jason bunker down for the night ahead of a big heist, or it could be a business opportunity available to players in the next iteration of GTA Online.
Other Ocean Drive hotels also make an appearance beyond the Art Deco district, including the Royal Palm and Loews Miami Beach, plus the 1500 Ocean Drive condos nearby. Further up Vice Beach, you can spot Continuum, Faena House, and W Hotel.
Another apartment complex glimpsed in the GTA 6 trailer is Bayfront Heights, though the brief look doesn’t reveal much. Similar to the 500 Brickell and Atlantis Condominium-inspired buildings seen earlier, it could be another player-owned property, either in the campaign or online mode.
GTA 6’s Strip Club and Vice City’s Darker Side
Grand Theft Auto wouldn’t be Grand Theft Auto without a strip club, and GTA VI’s version appears to be inspired by King of Diamonds, a famous—or infamous—spot in Miami known for being chaotic. The usual romance options available in strip clubs might be limited in GTA 6, given that its dual protagonists appear to be a couple.
GTA VI’s Murky Swamps of Kelly County
A stark contrast to the glamour of Vice City, the murky swamps—presumably Kelly County—will offer a very different gameplay experience. The trailer doesn’t show much of this region, as Rockstar focuses more on Vice City and the small-town antics of its wild and wacky locals. However, the wetlands are reminiscent of Red Dead Redemption 2’s Bayou Nwa, extending far beyond the original Vice City’s borders.
The trailer features an airboat gliding across the Everglades-inspired wetlands, as well as wildlife like flamingos and alligators. Spooky swamps could provide plenty of late-night crime opportunities, meaning not all illegal activities in GTA VI will be action-packed—some may require stealth and cover-ups.
Beyond the mainland, Florida’s Keys archipelago lies to the south. In real life, these islands are part of Monroe County, but in GTA 6, they likely fall under Kelly County. Including these islands shows just how vast the map will be. While this version almost certainly won’t span the full 120-mile stretch south of mainland Leonida, the trailer suggests a significant chunk will be explorable.
GTA 6’s Small-Town Chaos of Leonard County
Unlike GTA 5, where the Los Santos metropolis dominated the map’s southern region, GTA 6 introduces a series of small towns, likely located in Leonard County.
Rockstar’s signature satire targets social media in the trailer, and these clips offer our best look at the bizarre and brilliant takes on small-town Florida. Several towns—Catalan Boulevard, Stockyard, Downtown Hamlet, and Waiting Sands—are mentioned by name, though we only get brief glimpses of them.
Florida’s highest point is far from Miami and the Everglades, but the GTA VI trailer’s stunning opening shots show a sunset over the swamps of Leonida, casting pink and purple hues across the landscape. A tall broadcast mast, inspired by the WTVY Tower, can be seen in the distance. The real tower is in Holmes County, far to the north, but Rockstar will likely compress Florida’s geography, placing the tower somewhere in Leonard County.
GTA VI’s Lucia: Prison Origins and a Life of Crime
Our introduction to Lucia is fitting for a Grand Theft Auto protagonist—our first glimpse of her is in prison. Her orange jumpsuit bears the letters LDC, standing for the Leonida Department of Corrections, a clear reference to Florida’s Department of Corrections. The prison appears to be outside Vice City limits, set in a dustier, drier region, likely in Leonard County.
The trailer shows Lucia and Jason holding up a store, likely early in their criminal careers, before cutting to them speeding off in an American muscle car, kicking up dust as they go. In the background, a pawn and gun store sign reveals the town’s name: Port Gorn. The town looks well beyond the city limits, and its dry environment suggests it’s far from the wetlands, making it another small town in Leonard County.
