As Grand Theft Auto 6 continues its quick track to release, Rockstar Games has finally confirmed one of the open-world game’s most intriguing factors. That’s right, after years of secrecy, we finally know how big the GTA 6 map size actually is.
Since the days GTA turned to 3D, fans have constantly argued about the size of maps in Rockstar’s game. While it sometimes felt smaller, GTA V featured the series’ biggest map size to date, and GTA 6 is going even further.
In the latest issue of EDGE Magazine, Rockstar confirmed that the GTA 6 map size not only eclipses the size of previous games, but combines them. The studio explained that the size of the game’s world is around the size of GTA 4, GTA V, and Red Dead Redemption 2’s maps combined.
This would put the GTA 6 map size at around 166 square kilometers, double the size of GTA V’s world plus the condensed, smaller map of GTA 4. That’s an absolutely massive landmass for players to discover, but it does make sense. Not only does the city of Rockstar’s latest game look denser than ever, but the map of the state of Leonida has more biomes than previous games.
In the EDGE interview, head of development Aaron Garbut also explained that it’s not just the outside of Leonida that’s expanded. While fans are rightfully upset that some interiors have been locked away to the game’s Ultimate Edition, they explained that the game sports “an order of magnitude more interiors” than GTA V did as well.
“Every back alley is as densely detailed and interesting as the others,” he said. (Thanks, GR.) “You can go anywhere, any random location, and so many people have thought about that location.” In fact, the head of development notes that developers, himself included, keep discovering new areas as well.
With that said, while the GTA 6 map size is very large and densely packed, it’s not the biggest game map of all time. It’s already bigger than the massive-feeling Crimson Desert, but far from the colossal size of, say, Just Cause 2. However, it’s not about the size of the map, but more how you use it, and we’re excited to see how Rockstar makes use of this gigantic landmass.
Of course, this is all included in the immense 210GB single-player only version of GTA 6. At the time of writing, we still don’t know when the game’s multiplayer will drop, although some have claimed that it will release sometime in early 2027. The game’s PC version is also expected to drop sooner than expected as well.
With GTA Online reportedly planned to focus on user-generated content, it remains to be seen what players will be able to do within this massive world. How will players be able to manipulate the truly awesome map size of GTA 6?
