GTA 6 Map Leak and Mapping Project: Is the World Bigger Than Ever Before?

Rockstar Games has always garnered a reputation for redefining the open-world genre, and with each game they develop, the threshold of innovation rises. Each Grand Theft Auto game, from the crime-filled streets of Liberty City to the sun-soaked highways of San Andreas, has improved upon in terms of scale and richness of sandbox experience. Now the anticipation for Grand Theft Auto VI may be at an all-time high, not solely from being a next-entry title in the series, but also from rumored scale and size of the game's world.

Rumors surround how expansive is the map of GTA 6, stoked by the now-infamous leaks and the emergence of communities like the "GTA 6 Mapping Project." These members have dedicated themselves to mapping out a speculative map - designating it the name ViMap -which uses screenshots from the trailer, real world geography, and coordinates from leaked footage to build the fictional map for the upcoming game. They suggest that rather than just be more expansive than Los Santos from GTA V, that it may be more expansive than the already expansive setting of Red Dead Redemption 2. While nothing has officially been confirmed by Rockstar, these fan projects are certainly gaining some serious traction.

GTA 6 Mapping Project and Fan Contribution

What is the GTA 6 Mapping Project?

Known simply as ViMap, the GTA 6 mapping initiative is a fan-spurred collaboration attempting to map out GTA 6 using every bit of information available. The project emerged from communities on Reddit and GTA Forums and involves creating a mapping plan using leaked coordinates, in-game trailers, and Florida's real-life geography to plan what may be a Rockstar map that is exceeds the size of previous games.

ViMap certainly isn't just a mapping image. It's a growing and evolving presented collection of maps and fan comparisons that users regularly build upon. Users are also combing through the December 2023 trailer frame-by-frame, identifying specific landmarks that may be part of the mountainous terrain, road layouts, and skyline silhouettes. Others are extracting leaked gameplay coordinates and re-identifying those gameplay locations for real model counterparts across various location in Florida. After all, the game design is heavily inspired by the Sunshine State.

What distinguishes this project, along with all mapping projects, is the precision involved and the mapping community's work with the project. Cartographers (cartographers of maps, as in real-world mapping cartographers!) are treating this like a real-world mapping project. There are maps involved that layer a version of GTA V's Los Santos over top and probably an expansive area of the GTA VI map to demonstrate the size. It's fascinating stuff regardless of whether GTA AI does influence the community.

How Accurate Are the Leaked Maps?

The GTA 6 Mapping Project is undeniably impressive, but it is good to remain mindful that all information shared so far is - of course - all speculation - Rockstar has not yet issued an official map or confirmation of any regions despite what was somewhat briefly shown in the original trailer, but the foundation of the ViMap is shocking solid. Most of the mapping is based on concrete principles- including leaked coordinates, from the infamous (and pixelated) gameplay footage that showed a beach (among other things) and was released in 2022.

Fans on Reddit have also been using real-life landmarks to match the coordinates - and have been matching beaches, highways, and the curvature of coastline lines. For example, DuPz0r has become particularly infamous for his “to-scale” data, which would use Rockstar's Rage engine coordinate system and place the GTA V map (in mass) atop of the projected layout for GTA VI to see how close they match - in fact, DuPz0r would assert that the match would be within or closer to +/- 50 units.

GTA 6 Map Leak: Size Comparison and Details

GTA 6 Map vs GTA 5 Map

Right now, one of the hottest topics in the GTA community is how GTA 6’s map compares to GTA V’s. Based on several fan-made overlays and community comparisons, it seems to be that GTA 6 could be 2.5 times larger than GTA V. That is quite the statement, but it is built on leaks, discussion around coordinates, and the hype machine.

One fan analysis from the GTA Forums even estimates the GTA 6 map to be about 125 square kilometers, which would be a very significant increase over GTA V at 48.7 square kilometers, encompassing everything from the dense city of Vice City to rural areas, lakes, wetlands, and perhaps even a version of the Florida Keys.

What really sets this apart is not just the size, but the variety provided. At first, GTA V only had Los Santos and Blaine County - as a city, desert, forest and mountain. With GTA 6, we are going to have a much broader biome spread – including some kind of tropical marshland (“Gator Keys”), expansive lake systems (Lake Leonida), and even verticality.

Verticality implies roads and bridges atop mountains, and the possibility of air travel feeling like part of the world that matters. As one person said, “Exploring the map itself is the game. The story will simply be icing.” And we still have not seen everything with fans continuing to find more and more in every pixel of each trailer. And we may only be scratching the surface of what this Florida-inspired digital paradise has to offer.

GTA 6 Map vs Red Dead Redemption 2

Let’s now consider Red Dead Redemption 2-the present-day king of immersive open-world design from Rockstar- in this equation. It's claimed that 30 square miles in size seemed enormous. Much of its impact came from its intimate, natural design, realistic elevation of the terrain, and the emphasis on low-speed exploration. So, how does GTA 6 stack up? If fan theories are to be believed not only will it be larger than RDR2, but significantly larger.

The combination of sprawling cities, winding bayous, thick forests, and massive bodies of water will create a game world that feels large in both width and depth. Leaks have suggested there to be mountain ranges and regions covered in ocean to not simply create a in-game map a larger size than RDR2, but to contain exploration in diverse elevations, on land, and presumably across multiple water bodies. Where RDR2 offers better "realism," GTA 6 will likely offer incredible "density."

GTA 6’s Map Is Almost As Big As a Country — Literally!

The GTA 6 Mapping Project, a community sourced fan project has made an ambitious speculative map for the future game and shed light on how big or small GTA 6 could be. Some recent comparisons, however, put this speculative map next to the real-world country of Liechtenstein which covers an area of approx 160 square km.

Based on the latest estimates from the project, the map is approximately 125 square km in area. So it's relatively close to being 2.55 times larger than Map of GTA 5. In theory, the approximate size of the game map very close to the size of an entire country, which gives evidence to Rockstar trying to build a bigger, better and more immersive world!

The map for speculation features varied terrain and places, including Vice City, Port Gellhorn, Yorktown, and Kelly County wetlands. These places are meant to be similar to actual counterparts in Florida, providing a diverse and detailed landscape for the players to venture into.

It should be noted that although these comparisons give a thrilling preview of the possible size of GTA 6, the actual map size and details will be revealed when the game is officially released.

Why GTA 6 Mapping Is a Big Deal for the Community

The Role of Leaks and Trailers

With Rockstar being tight-lipped about any legitimate information, it is the community itself that is driving the 'hype train' for GTA 6—and leaks and trailers are the fuel in the train. Ever since the dreaded gameplay clip leaked, and trailer 1 was dropped, fans have taken on the role of geography and scientists and storytellers. They have not simply watched trailers—they have analyzed them.

Reddit threads are being posted every day about new findings. One user even figured out the angle of a building's shadow in the trailer and clarified an estimated time of day (following how to figure out where this all might be based). The level of detail these fans reach shows just how invested many of the more seriously involved community members are.

The coordinates have been useful for validating speculative maps anchored to actual data, with a hybrid concept of based/guest regions. And then some fans have begun to make educated guesses on possible mission locations, hidden easter egg areas, as well as side quest areas, based on just a map layout(s).

The Future of ViMap and Community Projects

The impact of mapping projects continues to evolve. ViMap has grown from a mere speculative side project to part of the actual GTA 6 experience pre-release. Fans are no longer waiting for the game—they are building it, bit by bit, with all leaks and updates. The next big milestone? Trailer 2. After it releases, expect to see a busy ViMap project, and when I say busy, I mean people will be adding a lot more locations, adding a greater number of overlays, and possibly “verifying” some fan theories.

Meanwhile, mapping experts like DuPzOr and forums like Vice City and Reddit will likely be refreshing their high-resolution comparison document with up-to-date satellite-style overlays alongside their images. Imagine future fan interactive maps to explore—web-based interactive maps, where fans can click through various sections of Leonida and theorize about their features, just like fans theorized about GTA V before it was released. They excite the community while showcasing the next evolution of pre-launch community-fan engagement.