GTA 6’s Map Is Twice the Size of GTA 5’s — Every Game Informer Reveal, Explained

Game Informer’s GTA 6 cover story is finally live. Issue 382’s digital edition dropped on September 29, and with it came the first substantial batch of new official details about the game in weeks: a Leonida map reportedly twice the size of GTA 5’s, six named regions, more than 170 animal species, and a full list of side activities to sink your teeth into. Here’s every major reveal, broken down.

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The Map: Twice the Size of GTA 5’s

The headline number from the issue is the map itself. Reporting on the 14-page feature says GTA 6’s map is roughly twice the size of GTA 5’s, and Rockstar has described it as its largest map to date “by some degree.” That’s not just raw square footage either — the emphasis throughout the issue is density. The world is described as much denser than Los Santos and Blaine County, packed with more varied NPC body types, busier streets, and far more to stumble across between missions.

We also finally have official names for the regions that make up Leonida. Six regions anchor the map:

• Vice City — the neon-drenched metropolitan heart of the game
• Leonida Keys — the island chain stretching off the coast
• Grassrivers — the swampy, Everglades-style wetlands
• Port Gellhorn — a working port region
• Ambrosia — a previously unseen region
• Mount Kalaga National Park — mountainous wilderness

It’s worth remembering that Leonida already looked huge from the trailers, but a 2x multiplier over GTA 5 — combined with the density Rockstar keeps promising — suggests this is going to be a very long game to fully explore.

170+ Animal Species Roaming Leonida

If Red Dead Redemption 2 taught Rockstar anything, it’s that fans obsess over wildlife, and GTA 6 is going all in. The issue confirms more than 170 animal species across land, air and sea: over 60 types of birds, 30 land animals, plus a full collection of reptiles and sea creatures.

Game Informer’s coverage, written by senior associate editor Marcus Stewart — a South Florida native who could actually fact-check Rockstar’s Florida — digs into how the team built this ecosystem. Some species are native Floridians; others are not, and the issue apparently explores that deliberate mix. One breakdown of the newly released screenshots even counted the animals visible in Rockstar’s own pictures and found that the green iguana, wild hog and elk are among the non-native additions — which, given Leonida’s exaggerated Florida, feels entirely on brand.

Weather: Florida’s Less Sunny Side

Stewart’s big question for Rockstar’s lead designers was how the game handles weather — specifically the side of Florida that isn’t sunshine and palm trees. The answer is an evolution of the Red Dead Redemption 2 weather system, rebuilt for a modern state-sized map.

Weather in GTA 6 is localized and persistent: different parts of Leonida can experience distinct conditions at the same time, and conditions linger. Dynamic cloud movement drives it all. Tropical storms and hurricanes can roll through, bringing heavy rain, high winds, thunder and visible runoff. Rain leaves rainbows and puddles behind, and surfaces stay wet long after the shower passes.

What Rockstar hasn’t said is how often major storms will hit, whether they can interrupt or alter missions, or whether they leave any permanent mark on the map. Those are the details worth watching in future previews — because a hurricane tearing through Vice City mid-heist would be peak GTA 6.

The Full Side-Activity List

Rockstar also confirmed a long list of things to do when you’re not on missions. According to the issue, side activities include:

• Air boating
• Base jumping
• Billiards
• Gyms
• Jet skiing
• Kayaking
• Mini golf
• Scuba diving
• Street and off-road racing
• Visiting zoos

And the key line from the coverage: this is reportedly just some of the activities in the game. Zoos is a new one for the series and fits perfectly with the wildlife push. Air boating and kayaking through the Grassrivers, jet skiing around the Leonida Keys, scuba diving off the coast — the activity list reads like it was designed around the region map, which is exactly how Rockstar builds open worlds.

What This Means

Put it all together and the picture of GTA 6’s world is finally getting sharp. This isn’t just a bigger map — it’s a map built around systems: regional weather that moves and lingers, a wildlife ecosystem bigger than anything Rockstar has attempted, and activities that map one-to-one onto the terrain. Vice City is only one of six regions, and the Keys, Grassrivers and Mount Kalaga look like they’re designed to play completely differently from the city itself.

It also continues Rockstar’s classic pre-launch playbook. GTA V got the same Game Informer treatment back in December 2012 — an 18-page cover story nearly a year before launch. This time the gap is just seven weeks to November 19, which makes this issue feel less like an introduction and more like the start of the final marketing sprint. With pre-loads opening November 12, expect the information drip to turn into a flood very soon.

Leonida is officially twice the playground Los Santos was. November can’t come fast enough.

Sources

• 9to5Toys — New GTA VI details: 2x map size, tropical storms, activities
• LADbible — Rockstar confirms GTA 6 side activities, biggest-ever map
• Push Square — GTA 6 reveals massive, dense open world in new screenshots
• Particle News — Game Informer confirms hurricanes, localized weather, 170+ animals
• Heist Atlas — Game Informer puts GTA VI on its cover (issue 382 background)
• Game Informer on Instagram — official GTA VI cover art post