Leonida, the Florida of Grand Theft Auto VI, is the biggest map Rockstar Games has ever made “by some degree,” co-studio head Aaron Garbut told Game Informer, describing it as twice the size of GTA V’s. The comments are in Game Informer’s full cover story, published for subscribers on September 29, 2026. Rockstar first made the size comparison in interviews around its August 27 Extended Look, and the cover story adds new detail on what fills the map.
Garbut, Rockstar’s head of development, said size was only half the goal. “Normally you compromise scale for detail or detail for interaction, but with this project we went the other way,” he said. The team built so many interiors that it “hit a critical mass,” he added, so buildings feel real inside and out.
The Details
The full feature goes further than Game Informer’s two free excerpts on wildlife and weather:
- Six regions. Vice City, rebuilt and set in the modern day, anchors a state that also covers the Leonida Keys, the Grassrivers wetlands, run-down Port Gellhorn, industrial Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga National Park on the northern border.
- North Leonida. Paul MacPherson, Rockstar’s senior vice president of environment art, said the team studied Panama City, Jacksonville, Ocala and the small towns in between. He listed ATV trails, a mud park party, night destruction derby races, mountain bike trails, ranches, a private golf course and bass fishing.
- Orlando and the Space Coast have not been shown. Asked about them, MacPherson said “we may not have those exact locations,” but that everything is aimed at “that full Florida experience.”
- More wildlife. Game Informer’s breakdown of the 170-plus species includes more than 60 bird types and over 30 land mammals. Michael Kane, vice president of dynamic art, confirmed sharks, whales, rays, turtles and jellyfish for scuba divers, and nine-banded armadillos join the invasive species.
- NPCs. Rockstar has a team in Los Angeles dedicated solely to writing NPC chatter, per Game Informer.
What This Means for Players
A map twice GTA V’s size makes getting around a bigger part of the game. Our guides to how big the GTA 6 map is and fast travel in GTA 6 cover every official size comparison and the RydeMe ride-share app.
For the wildlife and weather excerpts, see our story on GTA 6’s animal species and hurricanes. To read the full feature yourself, our guide to buying Game Informer’s GTA 6 issue covers every option. Everything else is on our GTA hub.
When and Where
Grand Theft Auto VI launches November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, per Rockstar’s official page. The full cover story is in Game Informer’s digital issue 382 for subscribers now, with print copies to follow.
Source: Aaron Garbut, Paul MacPherson and Michael Kane of Rockstar Games, interviewed by Game Informer for its GTA VI cover story, September 29, 2026.