GTA 6: Rob Nelson Confirms That Its Map Is Three Times the Size of Red Dead 2's

GTA 6 will feature Rockstar's largest map: Vice City is three times the size of Red Dead Redemption 2 and twice the size of GTA V, according to the game's head of development.

Rob Nelson, head of development at Rockstar North, has confirmed that the map in GTA 6 is twice as large as the one in GTA V and three times as large as the one in Red Dead Redemption 2. The figure comes from a three-hour visit by YouTuber TGG to the studio, just before the premiere of the Netflix Extended Look.

The hot topic of the week in the GTA 6 community is no longer the release date—it’s the map size. And for once, the information isn’t coming from a dataminer or an unsourced rumor: it’s coming from Rockstar itself.

What Rob Nelson Said About the GTA 6 Map

TGG, one of the most-followed YouTubers in the community, visited Rockstar North before the premiere of the Extended Look and got to watch three hours of gameplay live. During the session, Nelson played for two and a half hours and answered specific questions about the scale of the open world.

His summary, as reported by TGG: the map is twice as large as GTA V’s and three times as large as Red Dead Redemption 2’s. These are two benchmarks that any Rockstar player has etched in their memory, so the comparison leaves little room for doubt.

“The map is twice as big as GTA V’s and three times as big as Red Dead 2’s. Vice City alone is twice as big as Los Santos.”

Vice City, on its own, is already twice the size of Los Santos

Here’s the fact that’s going to sting the most for anyone who thought they knew Leonida by heart from the trailers: Vice City alone is twice as big as Los Santos. And if you count the entire metropolitan area, including the suburbs, the difference skyrockets: eleven times larger than Los Santos and its outskirts in GTA V.

To help you grasp the magnitude without getting lost in random numbers, here’s the comparison:

It is, by far, the most ambitious map the studio has ever built—and that’s saying something, considering Red Dead Redemption 2 was already considered massive for its time.

Why It Matters Beyond the Headline

A large map alone guarantees nothing—that’s the point the community keeps making whenever a figure like this comes out. What’s interesting isn’t the raw size, but rather that Rockstar has revealed it in full detail—with an actual executive speaking live on camera—something the developer doesn’t usually do this early on.

It also shifts the conversation about the campaign’s pace: if Leonida is 11 times the size of the Los Santos metropolitan area, the time it takes to complete it 100% will likely break records for the series. All of this comes as the community is still analyzing the Leonida map shown in the Extended Look frame by frame, with Vice City at the center of nearly all the theories.

Rockstar hasn’t yet provided an official figure in square kilometers, so for now, comparisons remain relative: twice this size, three times that size. Enough to get an idea, but not enough to break out the calculator.

Quick Questions

Who confirmed the size of the GTA 6 map?

Rob Nelson, head of development at Rockstar North, told YouTuber TGG directly during a visit to the studio.

How much bigger is the GTA 6 map than that of Red Dead Redemption 2?

According to Nelson, it’s three times as big. It’s also twice the size of the GTA V map.

Is Vice City bigger than Los Santos?

Yes, Vice City alone is twice as big. If you include the metropolitan area and suburbs, the difference jumps to 11 times larger.

For now, there are no technical details beyond these comparisons. Next stop: seeing if Rockstar ever releases a figure in square kilometers. For more GTA 6 news, this is just the beginning.