The leaks and rumors don't matter, the GTA 6 map will be judged on more than scale alone

Dec. 4, 2023

Grand Theft Advent | The so-called ‘Project Americas’ might still exist – but I’m not convinced that’s too big a deal either way

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If you’ve been following theGTA 6rumor mill closely over the last several years, you’ve probably already heard of Project Americas and what it might mean for the GTA 6 map. If not, let me give you a very brief history lesson.

There was mention of the Netflix crime drama Narcos, an era that spanned the ’70s and ’80s, and returning characters from previous Grand Theft Auto games, this time making retrospective appearances. Here’s that wishful list in full (as captured byInverseat the time):

Roll in last weekend’s TikTok ‘leaks’ (the veracity of the supposed leaks remains undetermined), and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say speculation is at an all-time high right now.

Size doesn’t matter

Welcome to Grand Theft Advent – a month-long celebration of Rockstar’s enduring crime sim series. Be sure to check in on ourGTA 6 coverage hubfor more every day throughout December.

What’s most interesting to me, however, is any speculation tied to the scale of the GTA 6 map. As you might expect, JackOLantern1982’s uncorroborated Reddit claims set the rumor mill alight at the time, with mention of Project Americas still prevalent all over the Grand Theft Auto community to this day. I’ve since seen more map mock-ups than I’ve had hot dinners, some of which have Los Santos and Blaine County as they exist inGTA 5and GTA Online superimposed next to GTA 4’s faux NYC Liberty City sprawl, alongside what Vice City and Cuba and Rio De Janeiromightlook like assuming any of this is true. Project Americas, to these hopeful would-be players, looks set to deliver the biggest video game map of all time.

Now, who really knows what Rockstar has up its sleeve at this point with regards to the size of the next upcoming open-world playground, but scale isn’t everything. The Red Dead Redemption 2 map was beautiful, but some areas were linked with long straits of hushed wilderness that I’m not convinced would fit quite as well in Grand Theft Auto. GTA has more modes of transport to expedite long distances, granted, but even then, the jaunt between downtown Los Santos and anywhere north of Mount Chiliad can be a slog in GTA Online right now – the thought of doubling or tripling that journey to get from A to B doesn’t appeal much to me at all.

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“The Red Dead Redemption 2 map was beautiful, but some areas were linked with long straits of hushed wilderness that I’m not convinced would fit quite as well in Grand Theft Auto.”

I suspect Vice City, or wherever GTA 6 takes us, will be bigger and bolder than anything that’s come before, but I’d happily sacrifice quantity for quality – in the same way I wish games like, say, Starfield had given us more to do on barren planets besides being able to simplygothere.

With the eventual introduction of flying DeLorean-like Deluxos, rocket bikes, jet packs, remote control toy cars, and remote control mini-tanks to name but some of the game’s most outlandish vehicles, it’s fair to say GTA Online doesn’t take itself too seriously. Whether or not GTA 6 and whatever its online counterpart looks like takes a more straight-faced line from launch remains to be seen, but as long as a similar wealth of choice on the ground returns I’ll be happy.

All live-service-styled games put their cosmetic wares on display to varying degrees, but when you can see the latest fad or item of intrigue hurtling towards you in a world that mirrors reality, few games capture the shop window essence of these games like GTA Online. I wantthatfrom the GTA 6 map, no matter how far it expects me to travel to get it.

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