GTA 6's Story Won't Take You Everywhere: What Rockstar Said About Its Biggest Map Yet, and How You'll Get Around It

GTA 6's story is long, but it will not show you all of Leonida, and Rockstar is saying so up front. In Game Informer's cover story, Rockstar's senior vice president of narrative, Rupert Humphries, explained that the story's job is to tour you around the map, but that "we don't have time to take you everywhere." On a map Rockstar North's Aaron Garbut puts at around twice the size of GTA 5's, a lot of Leonida is yours to find on your own.

Here is exactly what they said, what is out there off the story path, and how Rockstar expects you to get around a state that big.

What Rockstar said

Humphries, as quoted by TheGamer from the Game Informer interview:

“"Part of the job of the game's story is to bring the player around the map in a way that feels authentic and interesting. We don't have time to take you everywhere, but we want to be able to explore and get a feel for most of the places, cultures, and vibes."”

That is a narrative director describing the main story as a guided tour of most of Leonida, with the rest left for you. It is the opposite of a checklist map, where every icon eventually gets a mission.

Garbut, Rockstar North's co-studio head, set out the scale. He says the map is around twice the size of GTA 5's and the biggest Rockstar has made "by some degree," and gHacks quotes him going further: "I don't think we have ever created anything close to this before." His case is density, not just area:

“"This new world is different. We obsessed about every part – the rooftops, the alleys, the internals and everything in between to the point we hit a critical mass with the numbers of our interiors, and you start to feel the buildings are more real inside and out. This world is a cohesive whole with the density of content and a hand-crafted quality to every bit."”

Rockstar has still not given a figure in square miles. Treat any number you see as a fan estimate. Our GTA 6 map size explainer separates what Rockstar has said from what creators have claimed.

The six regions

Leonida has six main regions: Vice City, the Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga National Park. The cover story adds a new name at the top of the map: GTA BOOM reports that Mount Kalaga sits on the boundary with Gloriana, Leonida's neighbouring state and the game's version of the Florida-Georgia line.

Each has its own guide on GTA Intel: Vice City versus real Miami, the Leonida Keys, Grassrivers and Mount Kalaga, with everything else in our Leonida map guide.

What is waiting off the story path

If the story only gets you to "most" of the places, what is in the rest? From the reporting on the cover story:

• The landscape: swamps, beaches, industrial areas, northern countryside and, per GTA BOOM's reading, abandoned tourist attractions.
• The countryside: ATV trails, mud parks, demolition derbies, mountain biking, motocross, farms, ranches, golf and bass fishing.
• The activity list: base jumping, billiards, gyms, kayaking, mini golf, scuba diving, street and off-road racing, zoos, airboating and jet skiing, as VICE summarised it, with hikes doubling as dates for Jason and Lucia.
• The wildlife: more than 170 species, and Game Informer says you can "track certain animals categorized as Rare, Discoverable, and Legendary," whose identities are being kept secret. Those are exactly the kind of things a story will never walk you to. Our GTA 6 animals guide has every species shown so far.

The north is the least-seen part of the map. Rockstar's environment team researched Panama City, Jacksonville, Ocala and smaller rural towns for it, according to GTA BOOM, with lumber operations, communities built around private airstrips and struggling west coast towns feeding into that part of Leonida.

How you get around: RydeMe and a satellite map

A map twice the size of GTA 5's needs a way to cross it without a 20-minute drive. GTA BOOM's rundown of the story says the phone's RydeMe app lets you fast travel by ride-share, and that when you share a ride, "you can chat with other passengers." The app first turned up in the Extended Look previews in August; our GTA 6 phone guide covers it alongside the rest of Jason and Lucia's phone.

Two other details help: an updated map that looks like satellite imagery, and radio stations with new licensed songs and ads for the drives you do take. You will also be riding through weather now: Leonida's storms are local, so one side of the state can be sunny while a downpour hits the other, as our weather and hurricanes guide explains.

Why it matters

GTA 5's story dragged you through most of Los Santos and Blaine County. Red Dead Redemption 2 did something closer to what Humphries describes: a story that moved the gang across the map, with whole regions and stories you only found by wandering off. GTA 6 is taking the Red Dead route on a map twice the size of GTA 5's, which is good news if you liked finding a strange stranger mission in the middle of nowhere, and a warning if you plan to mainline the story and call it done.

FAQ

Does GTA 6's story cover the whole map?

No. Rockstar's Rupert Humphries says the story brings you around "most of the places, cultures, and vibes," but "we don't have time to take you everywhere."

How big is the GTA 6 map?

Around twice the size of GTA 5's, according to Rockstar's Aaron Garbut, and Rockstar's biggest map "by some degree." No official area figure has been given.

Does GTA 6 have fast travel?

Yes. The RydeMe ride-share app on Jason and Lucia's phone works as fast travel, and you can talk to other passengers on shared rides.

What is Gloriana in GTA 6?

Leonida's neighbouring state, the game's version of Georgia. Mount Kalaga National Park sits on the Leonida-Gloriana boundary.

Sources

• Game Informer - The Grand Theft Auto VI Digital Issue Is Now Live
• TheGamer - GTA 6's map is so massive the story doesn't cover it all
• Dexerto - Rockstar says GTA 6's map is so big you won't see it all just by playing story missions
• gHacks - Rockstar confirms GTA 6 hurricanes, 170 animal species and six map regions
• GTA BOOM - GTA 6 cover story reveals a bigger, denser and more interactive Leonida
• Insider Gaming - GTA 6's Leonida map is Rockstar Games' biggest map ever created
• VICE - All new GTA 6 features revealed by Game Informer
• Game Informer - Exclusive: Grand Theft Auto VI Includes Over 170 Animal Species