5 Ways GTA 6's Leonida Differs from GTA V's Los Santos

With Grand Theft Auto VI scheduled to arrive on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19, 2026, Rockstar Games has detailed several major regions across its fictional state of Leonida. While the studio has yet to release a complete top-down map, the official website updates, trailers, and the August 2026 Extended Look give a clear view of how the environment is constructed. Here is how the confirmed layout compares when evaluating the GTA 6 map vs GTA V.

1. Extensive Wetlands Replace Inland Desert Basins

In Grand Theft Auto V, the primary non-urban body of water was the arid Alamo Sea, hemmed in by the desert flatlands of Grand Senora. Leonida swaps this dynamic for the Grassrivers, a sprawling wetland ecosystem composed of dense mangroves and alligator habitats based on the Florida Everglades. This shift makes shallow waterways, swamp traversal, and specialized fauna central to navigating the wilderness, rather than dust tracks and dry lakebeds.

2. An Interconnected Tropical Archipelago in the Leonida Keys

Southern San Andreas in GTA V operated primarily as a singular, contiguous landmass ringed by deep ocean, with minimal off-coast landmasses. Leonida introduces the Leonida Keys, a designated tropical island chain. Rockstar has confirmed that water-based activities like kayaking are supported in the game, pointing to an environment designed specifically around inter-island transit, shallow channels, and coastal navigation alongside conventional highway driving. You can read more about confirmed mechanics in our look at GTA 6 gameplay & features.

3. Distinct Secondary Towns with Specialized Economies

Outside of Los Santos, GTA V featured smaller settlements such as Sandy Shores, Grapeseed, and Paleto Bay. Leonida broadens this regional structure with distinctly profiled secondary hubs. Official materials describe Port Gellhorn as a faded vacation town lined with cheap motels and strip clubs, with a local economy fueled by painkillers and malt liquor. In contrast, Ambrosia serves as an industrial and agricultural hub anchored by the Allied Crystal sugar refinery and occupied by a local biker gang, establishing distinct regional aesthetics separate from Vice City.

4. A Dedicated National Park Wilderness in Mount Kalaga

GTA V's northern expanse was dominated by the peak of Mount Chiliad and its surrounding mountain ranges. For Leonida, Rockstar has introduced Mount Kalaga National Park in the northern sector of the state. Official regional overviews designate this area as a dedicated wilderness tailored for hunting, fishing, and off-road driving, blending protected reserve territory with recreational outdoorsmanship rather than serving solely as a steep geographical boundary.

5. Map Scale and Dimensions Remain Officially Unconfirmed

When measuring the GTA 6 map vs GTA V strictly by total land area, Rockstar Games has not yet stated how large Leonida is compared to San Andreas. While footage shown in the 2023 reveal and the October 2026 Launch Trailer—detailed in our GTA 6 trailers & videos guide—highlights vast draw distances spanning from neon shorelines to inland swamps, Take-Two and Rockstar have not released an official map layout or confirmed square-mileage figures. Any external map measurements currently circulating remain unverified community estimates or leaks.