Vice City 2002 vs 2026: The 10 Biggest Changes in GTA 6

Updated November 9, 2026 · GTA 6 facts from Rockstar Games (rockstargames.com/VI, Newswire, Support) and Rockstar’s interview with Edge · 2002 facts from Rockstar, Wikipedia and Metacritic

GTA 6 is out Thursday, November 19, 2026, on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and pre-load starts November 10 (our GTA 6 release date and time guide has the exact unlock times). If Vice City was your first GTA, here is what Rockstar has changed, built only from what Rockstar has shown and said.

GTA Vice City vs GTA 6 at a glance

1. When is GTA 6 set? 1986 vs today

The 2002 game is set in 1986, and Rockstar’s own page for it still sells the decade: big hair, excess and pastel suits. Tommy Vercetti arrives in a city built on that era’s cocaine money.

Rockstar hasn’t put a year on GTA 6, but Jason and Lucia carry smartphones and listen to podcasts, so this is Vice City now. Rockstar’s tour of the city admits it has moved well past the ’80s while keeping its reputation as America’s sun-and-fun capital. That leaves a gap of about four decades inside the fiction, and 24 years for those of us who played the original on a PS2.

2. How big is the GTA 6 map compared to Vice City?

The 2002 map is one city split across two main islands, plus smaller areas, and the islands open up as the story moves along. Rockstar pitched it as running from the beach to the swamps.

In GTA 6, the swamp is a whole region. Rockstar’s “Only in Leonida” page names six: Vice City, the Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga. Rockstar told Edge the full land mass is nearly as big as the playable maps of GTA IV, GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 put together. A free printable map of Leonida goes up on Rockstar’s site on November 19. For the GTA V side of the size question, see our GTA 5 vs GTA 6 comparison.

3. Who do you play? Tommy Vercetti vs Jason and Lucia

Vice City had one lead, Tommy Vercetti, voiced by Ray Liotta. He arrives in 1986 after a 15-year prison sentence, sent south by his boss, Sonny Forelli, to oversee a drug deal.

GTA 6 has two. Rockstar’s character pages say Jason Duval grew up around grifters, tried the Army, and ended up working for drug runners in the Keys. Lucia Caminos went to Leonida Penitentiary after fighting for her family and is fresh out when the story starts. That’s a neat echo: like Tommy, Lucia’s story begins just after prison. Rockstar even says her mom has dreamed of a better life since their days in Liberty City. Rockstar hasn’t named either voice actor yet.

4. Is GTA 6 still based on Miami?

Yes, and now on the rest of Florida too. The 2002 city was based heavily on Miami. GTA 6’s Leonida is Rockstar’s version of the whole state, and its descriptions make the real places easy to spot: Ocean Beach’s pastel art deco hotels, the panaderías of Little Cuba, and a VC Port billed as the cruise ship capital of the world, a title Miami’s real port uses for itself. The 2002 map had a Little Havana and a Viceport in those roles.

The bigger change is the humor. Trailer 1 in December 2023 was cut like a feed of viral clips, and outlets such as TweakTown traced several to real Florida news stories. Rockstar hasn’t confirmed any of them, but the screenshot below tells you the tone.

5. Does GTA 6 have social media and phones?

In 1986 there was no internet to speak of, so Vice City’s gossip came from the radio. GTA 6 puts a smartphone in both leads’ hands. Rockstar says Jason and Lucia’s smartphones connect to new headphones and earbuds, so radio and podcasts play on foot as well as in cars.

Social media runs through the cast too. Rockstar describes the Real Dimez, a rap duo, as living on viral videos and a nonstop social media presence. One official screenshot caption has a woman taking a selfie in front of an arrest. Preview reports about specific phone apps don’t agree yet, so we’ll add the confirmed ones after launch.

6. Is Flash FM in GTA 6?

Yes. In 2002, Flash FM was Vice City’s pop station, hosted by Toni (voiced by Maria Chambers). In GTA 6, Rockstar calls it a Vice City institution, still playing pop, now hosted by Robyn and Alex. It’s one of six stations Rockstar has confirmed so far, next to the series’ first on-demand podcasts. It’s also the only 2002 station name among those six: Cocoteo FM, Back Country Radio, AfroBank FM, The Chamber 106.6 and Dirty South Classics are all new. Every host and preview song is in our GTA 6 radio stations guide.

7. Are the beaches the same? Ocean Beach then and now

Ocean Beach is the clearest link between the two games. In 2002 it was the art deco district where Tommy’s first safehouse, the Ocean View Hotel, faced the sand. The Definitive Edition shot below shows the neon art deco look the old beach side of town was known for.

GTA 6 brings Ocean Beach back by name, with Rockstar promising pastel art deco hotels and bright white sand. The official beach shot is busier than anything the PS2 could draw: a lifeguard stand, sunbathers, a jogger, and two guys throwing a football. Outside the city, the Keys add beach bars and boat parties.

8. Can you go inside more buildings in GTA 6?

Much more, according to Rockstar. In 2002 you could walk into a handful of places, like the Malibu Club and the North Point Mall. Most of the city was scenery you drove past.

Aaron Garbut, Rockstar North’s head of development, told Edge that GTA 6 has “an order of magnitude more interiors” than older GTA games, GTA V included, and that every back alley is detailed. Rockstar’s screenshots already step inside a bar in the Keys and a Fleeca bank branch, and the Ultimate Edition lists a salon, a clothing store, a tattoo parlor and mod shops among its extras.

9. Does GTA 6 have animals?

Yes, and that’s new for Vice City. The 2002 game’s wildlife was mostly seagull flocks drawn as distant sprites in the sky.

Rockstar’s own GTA 6 captions name alligators in the Grassrivers, iguanas in the Keys, a cougar stalking deer in Mount Kalaga National Park, and a sea turtle, an eel and coral on a scuba dive. Flamingos and gulls fly over a Vice City hotel pool. Rockstar’s Grassrivers blurb says the gators are the famous attraction, but deadlier things live among the mangroves, and its Mount Kalaga blurb mentions hunting and fishing. Rockstar hasn’t explained how either works yet.

10. What vehicles are in GTA 6?

Vice City was the 3D series’ first game with motorcycles, and its Cheetah was a sports car modeled on a 1980s Ferrari Testarossa. GTA 6 keeps the nostalgia: the Ultimate Edition includes a ’95 Grotti Cheetah, and every purchase before November 20 gets the Vintage Vice City Pack, with a ’55 Vapid Stanier sedan and garage, outfits and hairstyles, and a weapon pattern. Rockstar says those items flash back to the city’s neon heyday.

The bigger change is range. Rockstar’s screenshots show a seaplane over the Keys, airboats in the swamps, jet skis, kayaks, dirt bikes and ATVs, and Jason at a gas station pump. Tommy never had to stop for gas.

Should you play Vice City before GTA 6?

You don’t need to. GTA 6’s Vice City is a new version of the city, not a sequel to Tommy’s story. If you want to see the 1986 version, it’s in The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition from 2021. Vice City also holds up on paper: it was the best-selling game of 2002 in the US and had sold 17.5 million copies by March 2008. Our GTA games in order guide shows where it fits, and GTA by the numbers has the series’ sales records.

Our take: the old Vice City was a postcard of one decade. The new one is a whole state with a phone in every hand, and that’s the change we’re most curious to play on November 19.

Read next: GTA 6 radio stations: all 6 confirmed · GTA 6 vs Red Dead Redemption 2 · GTA 6’s Burger Shot, Cluckin’ Bell and Pißwasser in real life

Sources: Rockstar Games (rockstargames.com/VI, Only in Leonida, the Newswire posts of June 24, October 8 and November 3, 2026, and Rockstar Support’s GTA VI editions page, checked November 9, 2026); Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Trilogy pages; Edge via GamesRadar (October 30, 2026); Wikipedia; Metacritic; GTA Wiki; TweakTown; Miami-Dade County (PortMiami). No leaked material was used.

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