Rockstar told Edge magazine that GTA 6’s total landmass, Vice City and its surroundings included, is nearly as large as the playable maps of GTA 4, GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined. The comparison appears in Edge’s 16-page cover story for issue 430, published in full on GamesRadar+ on 29 October. Writer Simon Parkin visited Rockstar North in Edinburgh a few weeks before launch.
The line builds on what we already knew about Leonida’s size. Edge repeats that the map is roughly twice the size of GTA 5’s, a figure we covered when Rockstar first put it on record, and it sits alongside the earlier claim that the map is three times the size of Red Dead Redemption 2’s. Each of those uses a different reference game, and Rockstar hasn’t published an area measurement to tie them together. The new framing at least puts three of its biggest worlds into a single yardstick.
Density is the real pitch
Edge’s own take is that acreage alone says little about an open world these days, and Rockstar’s developers steer the conversation the same way. Aaron Garbut, head of development and co-studio head at Rockstar North, told Edge the game has “an order of magnitude more interiors” than its predecessors. He added that every back alley is as densely detailed and interesting as the others, and that he still finds locations he hasn’t seen after years of playing the game.
Edge describes those interiors as built in layers by teams of architects, artists and designers, so houses carry traces of the people who live in them. Garbut recalled wandering into a house during a play session that morning and finding it trashed by the family dog, with no scene written for the moment. A character reaction to unpleasant smells, first built for one piece of explorable content, has since become a wider system. When Jason walked into that house, the system made him grimace and recoil on its own.
The same approach applies to the people on the street. Rather than leaning mainly on procedural crowds, Rockstar set up a Los Angeles-based team of writers, directors and producers to give NPCs individual behaviour. Edge says every pedestrian was art directed, with around 600,000 animations, and each is assigned traits such as temperament and aggression that shape how they react to what they’ve seen and how you’ve treated them.
A bigger world forced other changes
Scale also changed how the game feels to move through. Rob Nelson, Rockstar North’s co-studio head and head of development, told Edge the wide roads of GTA 5 have been narrowed to “a more believable size”. The day-night cycle is also substantially longer, so sunsets linger and nights stretch out. When the team tried GTA 5’s timings in the new world, Nelson said everything felt too fast for the level of fidelity.
Weather works more granularly too. In GTA 5, Garbut said, conditions sit in presets such as sunny or rainy, whereas GTA 6’s clouds move independently, shaped by wind, humidity, fog, time of day and season. A player in sunshine can watch a storm form in the distance, and roads dry at different rates after it passes. Edge adds that flying through severe weather can lightly damage aircraft.
Nelson played the current build unscripted for about 90 minutes, which gave Edge a look at buses and trains that Phil Hooker, the third head of development, says run on fixed routes. It also showed a police system built around what officers know about you, such as your description, partner, clothing and weapon. Edge notes that its observations come from a single demo session.
What to expect at launch
According to Forbes, GTA 6 is due on 19 November for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. If you’re planning ahead, the reported 210 GB PS5 install size is worth clearing space for, and we’ve also seen leaked footage and map images circulating in the run-up. The Edge feature restates the launch date but adds nothing on price, PC or online.
How big is the GTA 6 map compared with GTA 5?
Edge reports the map is roughly twice the size of GTA 5’s. Rockstar says the total landmass is nearly as large as the playable maps of GTA 4, GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined.
Does Rockstar give a size in square kilometres or miles?
No. The comparisons come from Rockstar’s statements to Edge, so they describe relative size rather than a measured area.
Where can I read Edge’s GTA 6 feature?
The story is on GamesRadar+ under the title “The state that never sleeps”, though the site now labels it a member exclusive. The print edition, Edge 430, went on sale on 29 October.
