Rockstar says GTA VI’s Leonida map is twice the size of GTA V By Luís Henrique Costa
3 min read
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Rockstar Games says the map of GTA VI, set in the fictional state of Leonida, is roughly twice the size of the GTA V map. The claim comes from an interview published on September 29, 2026, with Aaron Garbut, development director and co-director of Rockstar North. He called Leonida the largest world the company has ever built.
Leonida is inspired by Florida, and Vice City is its central setting. The official game page also highlights Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga, which points to a world with several distinct regions rather than a single city.
Studio lead puts Leonida at twice GTA V’s map
Comparisons with GTA V come up most often because the map of Los Santos and Blaine County has been the series’ reference point until now. According to the company, Leonida covers an area about twice as large. GTA VI is the first numbered sequel since GTA V, released in 2013, which leaves a 13-year gap between the two games.
Preview reports say Vice City alone is double the size of Los Santos. Counting suburbs, the scale would reach 11 times the surroundings of Los Santos.
No square-kilometre figure yet for the Leonida map
Rockstar has not released the map area in square kilometres. Fan estimates from 2024 reached 125 km², about 2.55 times the GTA V map, but they did not come from developers. For reference, fans estimate the playable terrain of Red Dead Redemption 2 at about 75 km².
Preview reports claim the GTA VI map would be three times the size of the playable map of Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar has not confirmed that figure.
Density and interiors weigh as much as scale
Garbut said the map was designed to be dense rather than simply large. He cited rooftops, alleys, interiors and the links between those spaces. In his account, the studio is pointing to more environmental density, not only more area.
Reports from the same interview say production focused on city density and access to building interiors. According to those reports, the goal was to avoid empty stretches between urban and rural zones.
600,000 animations and an 80-hour campaign reported
The game is reported to have about 600,000 animations, more than ten times the 55,000 in GTA V and twice the 300,000 in Red Dead Redemption 2, according to a playable preview. In practice, more animations mean characters show more varied gestures and reactions in scenes and on the streets.
The main campaign would last close to 80 hours, and the same reports mention a six-star wanted level. Even with that scale, Rockstar has said that players who finish the story will not have seen the whole map.
November 19 launch date holds on PS5 and Xbox Series X and S
The launch was pushed back more than once before Rockstar fixed the current date. Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar, reaffirmed November 19, 2026, and has not announced a PC version. The calendar confirmed so far includes the following:
- Launch: November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S
- Digital pre-load: November 12, 2026
- Pre-orders: open since June 25, 2026
- Price in the US: US$ 79,99 standard and US$ 99,99 Ultimate
- PC version: no date announced
Rockstar has still not published a figure for the area of the map. Until it does, the twice-as-large comparison rests on the developer’s own description.
