You Return to Vice City in 2026. What GTA 6 Changes Since the '80s

Vice City is the city of GTA 6, Rockstar's present-day take on Miami inside the fictional state of Leonida, and you can explore it from 19 November 2026. Rockstar's own pitch is that we are a long way from the '80s, yet Vice City is still the sun and fun capital of America, a single city that captures the glamour, hustle and greed of the whole country.

It is also a return to familiar ground. The two most recent games set there were period pieces, with GTA: Vice City in 2002 set in 1986 and GTA: Vice City Stories in 2006 set in 1984. GTA 6 brings the city into the present day, and that change of era shapes almost everything Rockstar has shown so far.

What Rockstar says about Vice City

Rockstar's profile names four places inside the city. Ocean Beach has pastel art deco hotels and bright white sands, Little Cuba is known for its panaderías, the Tisha-Wocka flea market sells bootleg brands, and the VC Port calls itself the cruise ship capital of the world. Boobie Ike, one of the supporting characters, is described as a local Vice City legend, and the Ultimate Edition adds a gang compound in Southside Vice City.

Vice City also gets more official screenshots than any other place, nine in total. Rockstar's captions describe a couple on a balcony above a pool and the beach, a jet flying over the giant Vice City sign, a sunny view across roads, palm trees and a basketball court, a lifeguard stand on a crowded beach, two women being handcuffed while another takes a selfie, a strip club with dollar bills in the air, the night skyline with a ferris wheel, and dirt bikes and ATVs doing tricks on a busy road.

Every Vice City place name so far

• Ocean Beach, with its art deco hotels. The pre-order bonus garage, Shore Court, sits alongside it.
• Little Cuba, known for its panaderías.
• The Tisha-Wocka flea market.
• The VC Port, the cruise ship capital of the world in Rockstar's words.
• Southside Vice City, home of the gang compound in the Ultimate Edition.
• Shore Drive, Washington Beach, Stockyard, Watson Bay and Gambit Bay also appear in Rockstar's edition descriptions, but Rockstar has not said which of them sit inside the city limits.

What the trailers show

Trailer 1, released on 4 December 2023, spent much of its time in Vice City. Kotaku's Alyssa Mercante wrote that it hands us Miami, from panning shots of art deco buildings in South Beach to clubs and the mural-covered Wynwood hotspots with lowriders and sport bikes parked outside, and she spotted dirt bikers racing through the streets. The Guardian described the setting as a fictional version of Miami.

Trailer 2, released on 6 May 2025, followed Jason through his days. Game Informer said it seemed to be as much about showing off the new and improved Vice City as about Jason himself, as he lifts weights on the beach, cruises down the highway and avoids police at night.

An Extended Look, the long gameplay video from 27 August 2026, showed the city from the player's side. Kotaku noted that the minimap shows 3D buildings and that Jason and Lucia can visit a strip club together.

The real Miami behind Vice City

Rockstar's team spoke about Miami directly in an interview with LOVE magazine published on 5 October 2026. Aaron Garbut of Rockstar North said the first research trip started in Miami, that he filmed downtown and the beach from a helicopter, and that Miami itself is really those extremes, from incredible wealth to incredible poverty, excess and the hustle. Rupert Humphries called Miami and Southern Florida a front line for the battle between astronomical wealth and unbounded ambition, and said Raul was written to bring a knowing Miami-cool into the game.

Several Vice City names line up with real Miami, though Rockstar has not drawn these lines itself and the comparisons are ours. Ocean Beach's art deco hotels match South Beach, the neighborhood of Miami Beach that Kotaku picked out of Trailer 1. Little Cuba echoes Little Havana, the Miami neighborhood named after Havana and home to many Cuban exiles. The VC Port's claim fits PortMiami, which is the largest passenger port in the world.

How it differs from the 1986 Vice City

The old city still runs through the marketing. The pre-order bonus is the Vintage Vice City Pack, with a two-tone '55 Vapid Stanier, a garage near Ocean Beach and a weapon pattern inspired by Tommy Vercetti's palm tree shirt, and the Ultimate Edition's revolvers come with classic Vice City stylings sourced from the Vercetti Estate. Tommy himself is not part of the confirmed cast.

What has changed is the era. One of Rockstar's screenshots shows a woman taking a selfie in front of an arrest, and the Guardian described Trailer 1 as TikTok-esque footage of mostly illegal Floridian antics. The tagline is still Everything in Excess, but the excess now gets filmed and posted.

What is still unknown

• How big Vice City is and how many neighborhoods it has. Rockstar has published no map or size.
• Whether the VC Port's cruise ships can be boarded, or any other building entered beyond what the videos show.
• Whether landmarks from the 2002 game return. Rockstar has not said.

What it means for you

Vice City is where Rockstar has shown the most, so it is the place you can picture most clearly before launch, with beaches, clubs, a port and a flea market already named. If you pre-order, the Vintage Vice City Pack's garage near Ocean Beach gives you a base in the city's best-known neighborhood.

For an official look, the Vice City Postcard is one of the free wallpapers on rockstargames.com/VI. The full city arrives with GTA 6 on 19 November 2026, and this page will be updated then.