GTA 6 Open-World Details Reportedly Reveal a Massive Vice City Map, Safehouses, and Phone Apps

Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled to launch on 19 November 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with recent preview accounts describing a larger open world, interactive safehouses, expanded phone features and more reactive environments.

Rockstar Games has not published a complete technical breakdown of all those systems, so many of the finer details remain based on accounts from invited preview attendees. YouTube creator TGG said after a Rockstar North session that the game contains hundreds of interiors, though he was not given an exact number. He also said the overall map was described as roughly twice the size of Grand Theft Auto V's and about three times the playable area of Red Dead Redemption 2.

French publication TROISCOULEURS, which was shown the game by Rockstar North head of development Rob Nelson, separately reported that Vice City itself is about twice the size of Los Santos. Those comparisons have not been published by Rockstar as formal square-mile or square-kilometre measurements.

GTA 6 Safehouses Reportedly Offer More Everyday Interactions

TGG said the safehouse demonstration included small domestic interactions that go beyond simply using a property as a save point. During the session, he said Nelson had Jason eat an apple, throw the core into a bin and shave while looking into a bathroom mirror.

Hair could also reportedly be cut shorter at a safehouse, while longer styles were not available there. TGG also said the world includes a zoo and drive-through locations.

According to his account, Rockstar had experimented during development with requiring players to buy groceries before deciding the mechanic went too far. Snacks and drinks remained purchasable in the version shown during the preview.

Travel across Leonida could also involve several transport options. TGG described bus stops, train stations, trams, taxis and RydeMe, an in-game ride-hailing service, as ways to travel or fast-travel around the map.

TROISCOULEURS reported other environmental details after watching Nelson control the game live. Its preview described sand sticking to characters' shoes, visible sweat after sprinting and aquatic plants reacting to movement through water. Reflections were also visible in mirrors, windows and puddles.

The publication said traffic could change depending on the time of day. After returning to the same road later, the reporter saw substantially heavier traffic, which was explained as end-of-day congestion.

GTA 6 Phone Apps Could Direct Players to Events

Phones also appear to play a larger role in navigating the game world. TGG said apps visible during the preview included BuckMe, RydeMe, Scooter Bros, WhatUp, Waink and Snapmatic, alongside a fitness app.

Scooter Bros reportedly allows players to call their personal vehicle to them. TGG also said some social-media posts created by non-player characters can point players towards locations where the events described in those posts are taking place.

Other systems described during the preview included the return of the Greet and Antagonize interactions for NPCs and a photo mode. These features were shown or described in a pre-release build and should not yet be treated as guaranteed final-build specifications.

Control details were also discussed by preview attendees. TGG said cover remained mapped to R1 on PlayStation, while crouching worked separately and allowed characters to strafe. He also reported that players could switch the camera over either shoulder.

Italian creator MikeShowSha separately said sprinting was mapped to L3 rather than requiring repeated presses of the X button in the PlayStation build he was shown. Rockstar has not published a complete official control scheme, meaning those bindings should not yet be treated as final.

TROISCOULEURS also reported that an elevator sequence shown in Rockstar's Extended Look presentation was live gameplay rather than a pre-rendered cutscene. Rockstar says the full Extended Look presentation was captured entirely from in-game footage on PlayStation 5.