What is actually measurable
Three things can be checked without official figures. First, the coastline, which is traceable from official art and runs from the panhandle in the north west, around the southern tip, and up the eastern seaboard past Vice City. Second, the number of distinct settlements, which is higher than GTA 5. Third, travel variety, since Leonida needs boats, airboats and aircraft to reach parts of itself.
Square mileage is not in that list. Working it out from trailer footage means guessing the field of view and the scale of objects in frame, and small errors there swing the answer enormously. That is why published estimates disagree with each other so wildly.
GTA 6 against GTA 5, region by region
| Feature | GTA 5 | GTA 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Major city | Los Santos | Vice City, larger and denser |
| Secondary towns | Paleto Bay, Sandy Shores, Grapeseed | Port Gellhorn, Cal Hampton, Ambrosia, Keys settlements |
| Wilderness | Mount Chiliad, desert | Mount Kalaga forest, Grassrivers wetlands |
| Islands | None in the base map | The Leonida Keys chain |
| Water traversal | Optional | Needed to reach parts of the map |
| Official size figure | Never published | Never published |
Why density matters more than area
A big empty map is cheap to make and dull to play. What makes Leonida interesting is that a large share of its area is city, and the city has interiors, pedestrian crowds and detail at street level. Vice Beach in trailer footage holds more individual objects per block than anywhere in GTA 5, which is a better signal of ambition than any square mile figure.
Judge it for yourself
The interactive map is the honest way to get a feel for the scale. Zoom out to see the whole state, then zoom into Vice Beach and notice how far you still have to go.
- Open the interactive GTA 6 map
- Walk the regions through the location index
- Read the full map explainer
Frequently asked questions
+How big is the GTA 6 map in square miles?
No official figure exists. Estimates circulating online range from roughly twice the GTA 5 map to far higher, and all of them are extrapolations from trailer footage rather than measurements. Treat any precise number you see as a guess.
+Is the GTA 6 map bigger than GTA 5?
Almost certainly yes. GTA 6 has a dense city plus an island chain, a panhandle coast, wetlands and forested high ground, where GTA 5 had one city and a desert valley behind it. The coastline alone is far longer.
+Is the GTA 6 map bigger than Red Dead Redemption 2?
Unclear, and the comparison is weak anyway. Red Dead 2 covers a lot of ground with low density, while Leonida puts a large share of its area into a detailed city, which costs far more to build per square mile.
+How long does it take to drive across the GTA 6 map?
Nothing verifiable yet. Trailer footage shows long highway stretches between regions, so expect the city to edge of state drive to run noticeably longer than the Los Santos to Paleto Bay run in GTA 5.