| Inspired by | Miami, Florida |
|---|---|
| State | Leonida |
| Series history | First appeared in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) |
| Neighborhood shown | Vice Beach (Ocean Drive analog) |
| Protagonists | Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos |
Vice City returns as the central city of Grand Theft Auto VI, reimagined for the modern day rather than rebuilt as a period piece. It anchors the state of Leonida, the game's Florida-inspired open world, and functions as the hub the rest of the map's regions — the Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia, and Mount Kalaga — orbit around. Rockstar's official site treats it as the flagship location of the reveal, front and center in both trailers to date.
This isn't Vice City's first appearance: the name and Miami-inspired premise go back to 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, itself set in a stylized 1986. GTA VI's version drops the retro framing and places the city in the present day, trading the earlier game's synth-and-pastel 80s aesthetic for a more contemporary skyline, denser traffic, and modern technology and culture woven into the world.
Early footage has focused heavily on Vice Beach, a barrier-island district that stands in for Miami Beach, complete with Art Deco hotel rows, boardwalks, and waterfront nightlife. Outlets tracking the trailers, including Miami New Times' landmark map, have matched individual buildings and street corners shown on screen to real Miami locations with a striking degree of precision.
What we know from the trailers
Both trailers use Vice City as their anchor. Trailer 1 opened with skyline and beach shots establishing the setting alongside protagonists Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos; Trailer 2 went further, cutting through downtown streets, waterfront nightclubs, and suburban sprawl to show the city as a functioning, lived-in place rather than just a backdrop. Community breakdown videos have gone shot-by-shot through both trailers trying to pin exact districts and landmarks — the video below is one of the more thorough attempts — though Rockstar itself has not published an official street-level map.
Real-world inspiration
The template is unmistakably Miami, Florida: Ocean Drive's Art Deco strip for Vice Beach, downtown Miami's skyline for the city core, and the broader mix of glamour, tourism, and crime that has defined Miami's pop-culture image since the 1980s. Rockstar has leaned into that reputation rather than softened it, keeping Vice City's identity tied closely to its real-world namesake.
Links
- Official GTA VI site (Rockstar Games)
- Interactive map: Miami landmarks in the GTA 6 trailer
- Grand Theft Auto VI — Wikipedia
- GTA 6 Map & Official Locations (GTA Base)
Related
Sources
- https://www.rockstargames.com/VI
- https://www.miaminewtimes.com/arts-culture/interactive-map-20-miami-landmarks-in-gta-6-and-where-to-find-them-22206001/
Updated 2026-07-14