Grand Theft Auto 6 will give players access to most of its map relatively early in the story, while Rockstar North co-studio head Aaron Garbut says he is still discovering new locations across Leonida.

Rockstar Games appears to be taking a different approach to world exploration in Grand Theft Auto 6, giving players the freedom to explore its fictional state of Leonida without having to complete a large portion of the main storyline first.

Details revealed in a new preview published by Edge magazine indicate that GTA 6’s map will become accessible relatively early in the game. This means players may not have to spend several hours following the main missions before they can travel beyond Vice City and explore other parts of the world.

The information was highlighted in a recent discussion by the podcast GTA VI O’Clock, which covered details from the magazine’s preview.

GTA 6 Will Not Keep Players Restricted to Vice City

Rockstar has previously used story progression to control how much of the game world players can access. Grand Theft Auto 4, for example, restricted movement between parts of Liberty City through police blockades on bridges. Players had to advance through the storyline before gaining access to the entire map.

GTA 5 took a more open approach. Once players completed the initial tutorial sections, they could explore much of the available world without being restricted by the main story.

GTA 6 appears to follow a similar direction. Although the opening portion will likely introduce players to its characters and gameplay mechanics, the state of Leonida will open up relatively early.

This could allow players to travel towards the northern parts of the map or explore locations outside Vice City without waiting for specific story missions to unlock them.

The main storyline will still take players across different parts of Leonida, but exploration will not necessarily depend on completing those missions in a particular order.

Rockstar Is Still Discovering New Places in Leonida

Another interesting detail comes from Aaron Garbut, co-studio head at Rockstar North, who revealed that he is still discovering new locations within GTA 6’s world.

This offers a glimpse into the scale and level of detail Rockstar is building into the game. Leonida is not simply designed around its major cities and familiar landmarks. The world also contains a large number of smaller locations for players to discover.

Garbut also highlighted the scale of the game’s interiors, noting that GTA 6 has “an order of magnitude more interiors” compared with other Rockstar titles.

These interiors have been handcrafted with considerable attention to detail, suggesting that exploration will extend beyond travelling through streets, highways and open landscapes.

For players, this could mean having more places to enter and explore while moving through the game world, rather than simply passing buildings as part of the surrounding environment.

How GTA 6’s Exploration Compares With Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar has experimented with different approaches to map accessibility in its previous games.

Red Dead Redemption 2 offered considerable freedom to explore its world, but one major section remained inaccessible until later in the story. The region featured in the original Red Dead Redemption could only be properly explored towards the end of the sequel. Players attempting to enter it prematurely were killed by snipers.

The original Red Dead Redemption also restricted access to Mexico until John Marston’s journey reached that part of the story.

GTA 6’s reported approach suggests that Rockstar wants players to have considerably more freedom to explore Leonida early in the experience, rather than using major geographical restrictions to control story progression.

GTA 6 Release Date and Platforms

Grand Theft Auto 6 is scheduled to release on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

With an expansive map, more handcrafted interiors and relatively early access to Leonida, Rockstar appears to be placing considerable emphasis on exploration alongside its main storyline. The fact that even the game’s co-studio head is still finding new locations hints at just how much detail the developers have packed into the world.

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