They’re doing it again.
Ever since that massive 2022 leak dumped nearly 100 clips of early development footage onto the internet, a dedicated group of digital cartographers has been obsessed. They aren't just watching the clips for a glimpse of the protagonists, Lucia and Jason. They are looking at the background. They are measuring the distance between a street lamp and a skyscraper. They are pixel-hunting. This is the GTA VI mapping project, and honestly, it’s one of the most impressive feats of collective detective work in the history of the medium.
While Rockstar Games remains famously silent, only dropping a single trailer in late 2023, these fans have already basically drawn the blueprints for Leonida.
The Madness Behind the GTA VI Mapping Project
You might think it's impossible to map a game that isn't out yet. It’s not.
The community uses a mix of the leaked development coordinates—which are literally burned into the UI of the leaked footage—and "triangulation." If you see a specific building from two different angles in two different clips, you can use math to figure out exactly where that building sits on a grid. It’s tedious. It's granular. It’s brilliant.
Members of the GTAForums and dedicated Discord servers have spent thousands of hours cross-referencing real-world Florida geography with what we've seen in the trailers. They look at the shape of the keys, the curve of the highways, and even the specific placement of radio towers.
The GTA VI mapping project isn't just one person with a Photoshop document. It’s a decentralized intelligence agency. They use "Units" (Rockstar’s internal measurement system) to scale the world. Based on the current consensus, the map of Leonida is looking to be significantly larger than Los Santos from GTA V. Some estimates suggest it could be double the size, though "size" is a tricky word when you factor in the density of the Everglades—or the "Graszes" as they're called in-game.
Why Coordinates Change Everything
In the leaked footage, there’s a bunch of text on the screen. Most people ignored it to look at the guns or the car physics. The mappers didn't. They saw the "World Pos" (World Position) numbers.
These numbers are $x$, $y$, and $z$ coordinates. By plugging these into a custom-built engine, the GTA VI mapping project leads have been able to place specific locations like Vice City, Port Gellhorn, and the Keys in relation to one another.
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It’s not perfect. Rockstar can move things. Development is fluid. But the general "spine" of the map? That’s likely set in stone. We know that Vice City sits on the east, Port Gellhorn is to the west, and there is a massive expanse of marshland and lake in the middle.
Real Places, Digital Echoes
Leonida is Florida. We know this. But how much of Florida?
The GTA VI mapping project has identified clear parodies of the Florida Keys, the Everglades, and even parts of the Panhandle. One of the most fascinating discoveries is the "Venetian Islands" equivalent. If you look at the 2023 trailer, there’s a shot of an aerial view of Vice City at night. The mappers didn't just go "cool lights." They matched every single bridge to its real-world counterpart in Miami.
They’ve found a parody of the Seven Mile Bridge. They’ve found the Stock Island equivalent. They’ve even spotted what looks like a version of the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
This isn't just about finding landmarks. It's about understanding the flow.
Rockstar games usually follow a "hub and spoke" or a "circular" design. GTA V was a giant circle with a mountain in the middle. Red Dead Redemption 2 was more of a sprawling, multi-regional journey. The GTA VI mapping project suggests we are looking at something more akin to RDR2 in terms of geographical diversity but with the density of a modern Rockstar city.
The Port Gellhorn Mystery
Most people are focused on Vice City. That makes sense. It’s the crown jewel. But the mappers are weirdly obsessed with Port Gellhorn.
This is a secondary city located on the western side of the map. Based on the GTA VI mapping project data, Port Gellhorn seems to be a mix of Panama City and Tampa. It’s more industrial, more "rural Florida." The coordinates suggest there’s a massive distance between Vice Beach and Port Gellhorn, which implies the "interstate" driving experience is going to be a huge part of the game.
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Imagine flying down a parody of I-75 at 130mph while the sun sets over the swamp. That’s what the map data is telling us.
Is the Map "Too Big"?
There is a lot of talk in the community about "dead space." Some skeptics look at the GTA VI mapping project and worry that a map twice the size of Los Santos will feel empty.
Honestly? I doubt it.
Rockstar’s philosophy has shifted since 2013. If you look at the interior density of Red Dead Redemption 2, every shack had a story. The leaks showed "World Events" being tested. These are dynamic encounters—think "man being eaten by alligator" or "car breakdown"—that happen randomly. A bigger map isn't just for driving; it's for these systemic interactions.
The mapping project has flagged hundreds of "POI" (Points of Interest) markers from the leaks. These include pawn shops, strip clubs, laundromats, and grocery stores. The sheer number of enterable buildings seems to be way higher than anything we've seen before.
Limits of the Mapping Community
We have to be realistic. The GTA VI mapping project is working with incomplete data.
- Verticality: We can see the footprint of a building, but we don't know how many floors we can explore.
- The North: The leaks didn't show much of the northernmost part of the map. Some think it ends in a mountain range (unlikely for Florida), while others think it’s just more forest and lake.
- Underwater: Rockstar has leaned heavily into diving in previous games. We have zero map data for the ocean floor.
Despite these gaps, the sheer accuracy of what they have built is terrifying. When the first trailer dropped, the mappers realized their "fan-made" map was about 85% accurate to the shots shown by Rockstar.
What This Means for You
If you’re a fan, you’ve basically got two choices. You can dive into the GTA VI mapping project right now and learn the layout of the world before you even pick up the controller. Or, you can stay away and keep that "sense of discovery" for 2025.
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But let’s be real. You’re going to look.
The project proves that the community is more engaged than ever. It shows that Rockstar isn't just building a game; they’re building a world that people are willing to study like it’s real-world history.
The sheer scale of Leonida is going to be the talking point of the decade. Whether it's the neon-soaked streets of Vice Beach or the muddy tracks of the backcountry, the map is the main character of GTA.
How to Follow the Progress
If you want to stay updated on the latest version of the map, you shouldn't just look at a static image on Reddit. The real work happens in the "Mapping Thread" on GTAForums.
- Check the Version Number: The project is constantly being updated. Look for "Version 0.xx" labels.
- Look for Overlay Comparisons: The most interesting images are the ones that overlay the GTA V map on top of the projected GTA VI map. The scale difference is jarring.
- Read the Research Papers: Some of these mappers literally write multi-page documents justifying why a certain gas station is 5 miles away from the airport. It's fascinating.
The GTA VI mapping project is a testament to what happens when you give a bored, brilliant community a few breadcrumbs. They don't just eat the breadcrumbs; they reconstruct the whole bakery.
When the game finally launches, these mappers will be the ones who find the easter eggs first. They’ll be the ones who find the fastest routes. But for now, they are just fans with a grid and a dream, trying to see over the horizon of the most anticipated piece of entertainment in human history.
Actionable Insights for Following the Map Development:
- Ignore "Leaked Map" Images on X (Twitter): Most of these are fake or "concept" maps drawn by artists for clicks. Only trust maps that cite specific coordinates from the 2022 leaks.
- Use Google Earth: If you want to "see" the game early, look at the Miami and Florida Keys areas on Google Earth. Rockstar’s level designers are being extremely faithful to the real-world layout this time around.
- Monitor the "Wildlife" Data: The mapping project also tracks where specific animals were seen in the leaks. This gives us a huge hint about the different biomes (swamps vs. suburban parks) we will be navigating.
- Watch for Trailer 2: When the next trailer drops, the mapping project will likely be updated within hours. That is the best time to see the most significant leaps in geographical accuracy.