Summary
Hype aroundGrand Theft Auto 6has been building for quite some time, with the recent news that the first official trailer for the game will drop in early December leading to an explosion of interest. Fans have long been debating what kind of experience the release will bring, with there being a plentiful amount of high-profile leaks and rumors for the community to pull from in their discussions.
One of the most talked-about aspects ofGrand Theft Auto 6is its setting, with even the most minute details of the game’s map already being scrutinized by fans. While the current knowledge aboutGTA 6’s map is still purely derived from unconfirmed rumors, the discussion surrounding it already goes to show how divisive the map will be within the community.
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Grand Theft Auto 6’s Map Might Always Be Controversial
The location of anyGrand Theft Autotitle is massively important, often dictating the core themes of a given release and the general feeling of a game overall.Grand Theft Auto 5’s Los Santosis fantastic evidence of this, with its satirical take on Los Angeles informing how many of the game’s characters were portrayed.
Ever sinceGrand Theft Auto 6was quietly confirmed to be in development in early 2022, fans have been theorizing where the upcoming game will likely take place. These rumors only intensified with the massively damagingGTA 6leaks that came later on in the year, which released a ton of early-development information about the game to the public. A lot of this information seemed to indicate thatGrand Theft Auto 6will return to the fan-favorite Vice City, which itself is closely modeled around Miami.
While Vice City is the expected location for Grand Theft Auto 6, it still lacks any official confirmation from Rockstar.
Fan Theories Have Given Way to Arguments Around Grand Theft Auto 6’s Map
Many fans were torn between being happy at being able to re-experience such an iconic franchise city and being disappointed at a brand-new location not being center stage, marking the first throes of map-related contention. Fans even recently began putting together a mock-up ofwhatGTA 6’s map may look likeby piecing together different locations that were made public from the aforementioned leaks.
This mock-up has generated its own controversy due to how the map is shaping up to be roughlythe same size as Los Santos. Of course, this mock-up may be completely inaccurate to the finished product inGrand Theft Auto 6, but this still goes to show what kind of scrutiny the game’s map will be under once more official information is revealed.
Other rumors surroundingGTA 6’s map hint that the game may feature several separate locations that players can independently visit. Some have theorized how this could involve visitingpastGTAcities like Liberty Cityand Los Santos, or entirely new locations set in the Caribbean and South America. Even this has been a contentious rumor, with some fans preferring one single location as opposed to potentially dividingGTA 6’s experience into different areas.
A lot of this controversy will have stemmed from the explosion ofGrand Theft Auto Online, withGTA 6arguably being the first franchise title that needs to put as much attention to its multiplayer as it does in its singleplayer. Splitting the map into different areas could dampenGTA 6’s multiplayer experience as well as things like RP servers, only feeding into the criticism thatGTA 6may face. While a lot of the negative attention aroundGTA 6’s map might be completely unfounded, it is clear that this factor of the game is going to be watched closely regardless of what final form it ends up taking.
