As part of its massive GTA 6 info blowout, Rockstar has been talking sizes – both of the map kind and length kind – confirming its latest open-world epic unfolds across a world that’s twice as big as that of GTA 5, and should take around 80 hours to complete.
Rockstar’s head of development Rob Nelson shared the map size news in a chat with YouTuber TGG, revealing just how huge GTA 6’s version of Vice City and the areas beyond it really are. Summarising those eye-catching numbers, TGG explained, “The map is twice the size of GTA 5’s map, three times the size of Red Dead 2’s map. Vice City itself is twice the size of Los Santos, and Vice City and its surrounding suburbs is 11 times bigger than Los Santos and its surrounds, which is, like, nuts, dude.”
Here’s Grand Theft Auto 6’s second trailer.Watch on YouTube
To date, Rockstar’s various trailers and announcements have revealed six key locations across the state of Leonida, GTA’s 6 Florida-inspired setting. There’s Vice City itself, of course, alongside one-time tourist hotspot Port Gellhorn, the sunkissed archipelago of Leonida Keys, the Grassrivers swamps, Mount Kalaga National Park, and Ambrosia. And while there’s almost certainly plenty more we don’t know about yet, it’s clearly a lot of map and a lot of stuff within.
There’s that relationship system, for starters, alongside a tilt toward more realistic driving and car-jacking, plus a revamped Wanted system, and more. So how long will it take to work your way through all this? Nelson, this time talking to the New York Times, suggested his most recent playthrough in February this year took around 80 hours. That’s for the main story and some “optional goals with narrative ramifications”, suggesting there’s plenty more play time in there for those that love their side content – and there seems to be plenty of activities and diversions in GTA 6.
Tonight’s big reveal on Netflix and elsewhere was an impressive one, helping Rockstar reclaim the narrative after a week of GTA 6 leaks, even as it remains embroiled in controversy for alleged union busting here in the UK.
Following the Netflix showcase – which proved so popular it briefly brought the streaming service to its knees – Eurogamer editor-in-chief Chris Tapsell wrote that GTA 6’s apparent shift towards awkward ultra-realism is both a huge risk and the right thing to do. And as contributor Christian Donlan succinctly put it: here’s what a billion dollars gets you.